Slayers and Sensibility
by Sunnydalesis
Summary: In every generation, a Slayer is born...except in the case of Buffy and Dawn. Born as fraternal twins, the Slayer powers are split between them. With Buffy being the strong, skeptical sister and Dawn being the romantic, intuitive sister, how will they handle working together and balancing their lives, especially when it comes to love?
1. Introduction: Universal Truths

This was inspired by a fic challenge on Elysian Fields.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

This story is going to include thematic elements and shout outs to various Jane Austen works and adaptations. Jane Austen was honestly my first fandom and the first fanfics I wrote outside of were related to Pride and Prejudice. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"You know, for someone who's all powerful, you sure do like to hide," Buffy said.

"I'm waiting for you," The Master said. "I want this moment to last."

"Well, I don't,

Buffy looked around the room and then shivered as the Master stood behind her.

"I understand," The Master said.

Buffy turned around as the Master knocked the crossbow out of her hands and grabbed her by the neck. She knocked his hand away and started running. He held his hand out toward her and she froze, caught by his hypnotic powers. She looked back at him, unable to move. He approached her, making slow twisting motions with his hand. He sauntered up behind her, gently took off her leather jacket and let it fall to the ground, smelling the fear in Buffy's blood.

"You tried," The Master gloated. "It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was about to break free and you came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything." He leaned in to whisper. "You're the one that sets me free! If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that!"

Buffy froze in fear as the Master bent down and bit her at the base of her neck. After drinking a few sips, he let her go.

"Oh, God! The power!" The Master shouted with glee. He pushed Buffy into the pool and smirked. "By the way, I like your dress."

He stepped over to the edge of his confines and pushed against the field, cackling as it broke down. He hurried out of his lair only to see a tall young brunette standing in his way.

"Who are you?" The Master asked.

"Don't you know? I'm the Slayer!" she said.

"I just killed the Slayer! Get out of my way!" He knocked the brunette down into his lair and continued to make his way to the surface

In an adjacent tunnel, Xander said, "What was that?"

"It's too late," Angel said. "He's gone up."

They broke into a run for the Master's lair. Angel cringed as he saw Dawn Summers passed out near the entrance and Buffy lying dead in the pool. He picked up Dawn as Xander came in.

"Buffy! Dawn!" Xander said.

Xander glanced at Angel, who laid down Dawn towards the center of the lair, and ran over to Buffy. Xander pulled Buffy out of the pool and laid her next to her sister, checking her vitals.

"They're both dead!"

Xander checked Dawn's pulse.

"Dawn's not dead, she's just passed out," Xander said. "You wake her up. I'll do some CPR on Buffy."

Angel nodded and shook Dawn until she woke up. All the while, Xander breathed into Buffy and pushed down on her chest.

"C'mon. C'mon!" Xander said as he pushed down on her chest. All of a sudden, both Buffy and Dawn woke up.

"Angel!" Dawn said with stars in her eyes.

"Where's The Master?" Buffy said.

"He's already surfaced," Angel said.

"Are you okay?" Xander asked.

Dawn and Buffy stood up. "I think I'm alright," Buffy said.

"Me, too," Dawn said.

"You're still weak, Buffy," Angel said. "You can't go up there."

"Actually, Angel," Buffy said, mustering up all her strength, "I feel pretty strong right now. I feel different."

"Then let's get outta here, sis!" Dawn said.

The four of them marched on over to Sunnydale High School.

"How do you know where the Master's going?" Xander asked.

"We know," Dawn said. "I can sense him."

A minion vampire jumped out at the foursome.

"Oh look, a bad guy!" Buffy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She pulled out her stake, kicked him down and threw the stake down at his chest, not even watching as the vampire turned to dust at her feet.

As they went to the door leading up to the roof of the school, Buffy gave orders to Angel and Xander to keep any other vampire minions at bay. Dawn asked Angel to get his game face on. The two sisters headed up the stairs, finding the Master watching in glee as he summoned a monster out onto the surface.

"You're dead!" The Master said as he turned to look at Buffy.

"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty, which is a lot more than I can say for you," Buffy said.

"And who in Heaven's name are you?" The Master said, pointing at Dawn.

"Don't you know? I'm her sister. Her twin sister."

"Two Slayers?! But that can't be! It was written…"

Buffy interrupted the Master by punching him in the face, knocking him down onto the ground.

"What can we say?" Buffy said.

"We flunked the written," Dawn said.

The Master tried to put both of them in his thrall, but both of them were surprisingly immune. Buffy dealt a lot of punches, but The Master grabbed her by the neck and held her up.

"Hey Batface!" Dawn said.

The Master let down his guard, giving Buffy the chance to jump free of his grip. The two slayers pushed the Master down the skylight and down onto the broken library railing, watching as he degraded into a skeleton and the monster going back to the depths below.

Buffy and Dawn made their way back to the library.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asked.

The blonde Slayer gave no reply, staring at the Master's bones. "Buffy?"

Buffy snapped out of her staring and smiled at her Watcher "Oh, sorry. It's just been a really weird day."

"Yeah!" Xander said. "Buffy died, and everything!"

"Wow!" Willow said. "Harsh."

"I should have known that wouldn't stop you," Giles said.

Buffy smiled up at him again.

"Well, what do we do now?" Jenny asked.

"We still have to grind the Master's bones to prevent anyone from trying to summon him," Dawn said. "But after that, I don't know."

"I hear there's a dance going on at the Bronze tonight!" Xander said. "Could be fun."

"I'm in!" Cordelia said.

"What about you, Buffy?" Willow asked.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Sure! We saved the world. I say we party! I mean, I got all pretty." She twirled around, showing off her dress.

"So dance first or bone smashing?" Dawn asked.

"We can grind the bones after school's over," Buffy said. "He's not going anywhere. Loser."

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "Okay."

The Scooby Gang left the library, discussing the dance and Buffy's dress as they went to the Bronze for the dance.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a black Desoto crashed into the Welcome to Sunnydale sign. A vampire with bleach blonde hair stepped out of the car and smoked a cigarette.

"Home sweet home," he said.

* * *

Spike gets a two-for-one Slayer package and it's not even Christmas!


	2. Chapter 1: Women of Uncertain Tempers

Timeline has been slightly shifted. This current chapter takes place mid-October.

Disclaimer: When She Was Bad was written by Joss Whedon. If I was in charge of Buffy, we would have a completely different show.

* * *

At the edge of Restfield Cemetery, Xander and Willow were out for a walk, playing their usual guess-the-movie quote off game. After a few rounds, Xander got bored.

"I wish Buffy and Dawn could play with us," Xander said. "Why do they have to be in LA this weekend?"

"They're still on good terms with their dad and monthly visits are part of his custody terms," Willow said. "But I guess they're celebrating our latest victory in their own way. I mean, they did destroy the Master."

"And just in time for the Homecoming dance, too" Xander said.

"I just don't know why they're not ready to grind the Master's bones yet," Xander said. "Why can't we just bury the Master?"

"Dawn and Jenny said that there's some kind of ritual that could revive the Master using his bones and the blood of the ones closest to him," Willow said. "Not exactly sure what that means."

All of a sudden, a vampire jumped out at them from behind the wall. Willow and Xander jumped back and screamed, only to see a blonde streak attacking the vampire while a tall brunette jumped down from a nearby tree, staking the vampire from behind. Buffy and Dawn jumped over the wall and greeted their friends.

"Buffy!" Willow said, astonished. "Dawn!"

"Hey, Will," Buffy said.

"Hey Xander!" Dawn said.

"When did you get back?" Xander asked.

"Just now," Buffy said. "Dad drove us down."

"I knew you losers would be getting into some kind of trouble," Dawn said.

"I think we had the upper hand," Willow said. "In a subtle way.

"Did either of you even have a cross? Very sloppy…"

"Well we kind of forgot," Xander said. "Had a busy weekend. How was LA?"

"The usual thing," Dawn said. "Hung out, partied... shopping was also a major theme."

"And I got a haircut," Buffy said, showing off her shorter hairstyle.

"I'm digging it," Xander said.

"Have you talked to Giles?" Willow asked

"Why would we talk Giles?" Buffy asked.

"We'll see him in school anyway," Dawn said.

###

_Sunnydale High School Library_

Life at Sunnydale High was back to its normal routine of classes and gossip. Dawn and Buffy spent an hour after school at the library to train.

"Are you sure you're both ready to get back into training?" Giles asked.

"Of course!" Buffy said.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Dawn asked.

Giles shook his head. "Alright, then. Dawn, your dumbbells are over there," he said, pointing out a pair of five pound weights on the table. "Buffy, we'll be working on your agility."

The rest of the afternoon looked like something out of an 80s montage without the "Eye of the Tiger" music. Dawn lifted weights to increase her muscle strength and perfected her target practice while Buffy worked on her agility by Giles throwing various things at her. As the two girls continued to train, they thought back to when they first demonstrated their differences to their Watcher.

###

_The Bronze, early September_

It was Buffy and Dawn's first night out since moving to Sunnydale. Buffy wore a blue bomber jacket over a white t-shirt and jeans while Dawn wore a pink graphic t-shirt and a knee-length denim skirt that swished as she walked. The two of them stood up at the balcony with Giles.

"We wanted to ask you about something," Dawn said.

"What is it?" Giles asked.

"The Harvest," Dawn said.

"That means something to you?" Buffy asked. "'Cause I'm drawing a blank."

"I'm not sure…" Giles said. "Who told you this?"

"This really hot guy we ran into along the way here," Dawn said.

"I didn't like him much," Buffy said. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"No…What did he look like?"

"Tall, dark, handsome!" Dawn said.

"Kinda uses too much hair gel," Buffy said. "You sure it doesn't ring a bell?"

"No, but if he knows who you are...Did he say anything else? About the Harvest?"

"Something about the mouth of Hell," Buffy said.

"I think he was a vampire," Dawn said.

"What?" Giles took off his glasses and started cleaning them. "How can you tell?"

"Buffy didn't tell you?" Dawn asked.

"I was going to!" Buffy said.

"Sure you were," Dawn said. "Here's the thing. Buffy and I are both the Slayer."

Giles's eyes widened. He took off his glasses to clean them and asked, "How? I mean, you are twins, but-"

"We honestly don't know, either," Buffy said. "But we kind of figured things out when we got called back in LA."

"I started having a lot of dreams about vampires and got some major spidey-senses," Dawn said.

"I started spiking the volleyball harder than usual. Breaking things by accident," Buffy said. "Dawn has gotten more agile."

"Which was really awesome," Dawn said.

"But are both of you truly ready?" Giles asked as he put his glasses back on. "There's so much you still don't know, about them and about your own powers. A vampire appears to be a normal person, until the feed is upon them. Only then do they reveal their true demonic visage."

"You're like a textbook with arms! I know this!" Buffy said.

"The point is, a Slayer should be able to see them anyway. Without looking, without thinking. Can you tell me if there's a vampire in this building?

"Yes!" Dawn said.

"Maybe," Buffy said.

"You should know! Even through this mass and this din you should be able to sense them. Try. Reach out with your mind. You have to hone your senses, focus until the energy washes over you, till you can feel every particle of-"

"There's one," Buffy and Dawn said, pointing downwards.

"What?" Giles looked around the crowd. "Where?"

"Down there," Dawn said, pointing to a guy with slicked-back brown hair wearing a jacket with the sleeves rolled up and a 70s style shirt. "Talking to that girl."

"But are you sure?" Giles asked.

"Oh, please," Buffy said. "Look at his jacket. He's got the sleeves rolled up. And the shirt…Deal with that outfit for a moment."

"It's dated?" Giles asked.

"It's carbon dated!" Buffy said with a roll of her eyes. "Trust me: only someone who's been living underground for ten years would think that was still the look."

"But… you didn't hone…" Giles said.

"I did!" Dawn said. "And Buffy is right."

###

_Sunnydale High School Library, present day_

Buffy and Dawn continued their training, with Buffy practicing her martial arts moves on a post while Dawn meditated.

Buffy kept raining blows onto the post. Even though she didn't remember her dreams like Dawn did, the Master still plagued her mind. She hit harder and harder until the post broke in half, which snapped Dawn out of her meditation.

"What the heck!" Dawn said. "I'm meditating here!"

"Sorry I wasn't able to keep my punches quiet, sis!"

"Maybe we should switch places! How about you try actually honing in on vampires while I do all the fighting!?"

"You'd be dead meat within seconds!" Buffy said "Or undead meat, as it were."

"Calm down you two!" Giles said. "I think it's best we end your training for now. I'm gonna give my usual update to the Watcher's Council."

"See you tomorrow, Giles!" Buffy said.

"Yeah, see ya," Dawn said.

###

Over at Restfield Cemetery, the Anointed One and his minions walk in with Drusilla and Spike.

"How exactly is the crazy brain gonna help here?" one of the mooks asked.

"She can sense the Master's presence stronger than I can," The Anointed One said, his face as expressionless as a rock.

"I don't see why I can't take on the Slayers myself," Spike said.

Drusilla shushed her lover. "Patience is a virtue, my dear." She hummed and pointed out a fresh grave. "Consecrated ground by the angel statue."

The mooks got straight to work.

"When the Slayer goes down," one mook said as he started digging, "it'll be the greatest thing since the Crucifixion! And I should know! I was there!"

"You were there? Oh please." He rolled his eyes. "If every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock! I was actually at Woodstock. That was a weird gig. Fed off a flower person and spent six hours watching my hands move."

"The best thing is that The Feast of St. Vigeous will be coming soon," another mook said. "If we can revive the Master by then, it'll be the most glorious bloodbath!"

Spike shook his head. "Come on, Dru. We're not welcome here. Let's find you something to eat."

Drusilla nodded.

###

The next day, the Scoobies met up at the lounge. Willow and Xander sat on a couch while Giles and Jenny stood perpendicular to them.

"I called up the Watchers Council yesterday," Giles said. "And they told me that no Slayer has been called."

"But I died," Buffy said. "One girl dies and the next one is called, right? Even if I died for like, five seconds."

"I discussed it with Lydia Chalmers and she said that it's because the two of you are both the Slayer and only one of you was killed. The next Slayer will only be called...when both of you die."

"Oh," Dawn said.

Giles and Jenny both had pensive looks on their faces.

"What's the buzz?" Buffy asked. "You look worried."

"Yeah, what are you thinking?" Dawn asked.

"This vampire activity-" Jenny said.

"I think we know what they're up to."

"Well, don't stress," Buffy said.

"We'll deal," Dawn said.

"I hope it's that simple."

'It is not to sweat," Buffy said. "Trust us."

"I don't know," Jenny said.

"I mean, I killed you once," Giles said. "It shouldn't be too difficult to do it again."

"What?" Buffy and Dawn said simultaneously.

Giles and Jenny attacked the twin Slayers, sending them sprawling onto the coffee table and grabbed them by their throats. They tried to fight them off, but Giles and Jenny were too strong.

Xander and Willow wandered around the school idly while Giles and Jenny choked Buffy and Dawn. The two of them clawed at their attackers and ripped off the faces to see The Master attacking Buffy and Angel, with his vamp face, attacking Dawn.

Dawn woke up with a gasp.

Given that it was Friday night, Dawn and Buffy called up Giles and told him what happened.

"So Giles confirmed what you saw in your dream?" Buffy asked.

Dawn nodded. "The only way that the next Slayer would be called is if both of us die."

"Guess I should make sure I don't die twice, then," Buffy said.

"You really think that was funny?" Dawn asked. "I had to watch you die! I keep having dreams of dying myself."

"You could never understand what I'm feeling!" Buffy said. "I may not have the Slayer dreams, but I still relive that night every night for the past few days!"

"Why do you always act like you're the only Slayer?!" Dawn said.

"Because I'm the one who does all the work!"

"Like hell you do!"

"Would you two keep it down?" Joyce asked. She came down from her room. "Honestly, you two."

"She started it!" Buffy and Dawn both said, pointing at each other.

"I think I need to send you both back to your rooms," Joyce said. "It's the middle of the night."

The two sisters glared at each other, knowing that they could both sneak out. Although neither of them were telepathic, they were both thinking "I'm gonna sneak out and if you talk to me, I will kill you!"

###

_The Shopping District_

Dawn snuck out of her room and walked towards the direction of the shopping district. Malls had too many cameras, but the little shops around town usually only had one or two and she hoped to find new things to add to her collection. As she passed by a beauty shop, she felt a tingling on the back of her neck. She turned around and saw Angel.

"Hey Dawn," Angel said. "How are you?

"Peachy with a side of keen," Dawn said with a smile. "So, what brings you to the shopping district? Is this some kind of impromptu date?"

"Um...No."

"If that's the case, I guess you're just being the bearer of bad news again."

Angel nodded. "I'm sorry. I wish I had better news."

"Is it about the ritual?"

"Yeah. I've seen it done before. They'll need the Master's bones and the blood of of the closest person, someone connected to the vampire."

"So that's Buffy, then," Dawn said.

"You don't sound too concerned," Angel said.

"She can fight them better than I can," Dawn said. "All I do is play Robin Hood and Oracle."

Dawn turned on her heels and

"Where are you going?" Angel asked.

"None of your business," Dawn said.

He grabbed her backpack and ripped it off of her. He opened it up and poured out the contents, revealing the makeup and trinkets that she stole from shops in LA.

"These aren't yours," Angel said. "You know that."

"I don't care! I had to fight the Master, too! I'm the one haunted by dreams of the Master killing the both of us."

"Where's your sister?"

"At the Bronze, probably."

"Then we should go talk to her. Tell her what we know."

Dawn pouted and stomped her foot, but she relented.

"Fine. But you owe me a new backpack!"

###

_Back in early September_

"Is there a problem, ladies?" the handsome, dark-haired man asked.

Buffy sneered at the interloper while Dawn was mesmerised at the sight of him. He had sort of James Dean meets Superman vibe to him.

"There's a problem," Buffy said. "Why are you following us?"

"I know what you're thinking," he said, "but don't worry. I don't bite."

The two of them backed off, with Buffy keeping Dawn behind her.

"Truth is, I thought you'd look more alike, being twins and all," Angel said. He looked at Buffy and said, "I thought you'd have more muscle." Then he looked at Dawn, "And you're pretty agile for someone without super strength."

"What do you want?" Dawn asked, slightly scared of him.

"Same thing you do," Angel said.

"Okay, what do we want?" Buffy said.

"To kill 'em. To kill 'em all."

Buffy made a game show buzzing noise. "Sorry! That's incorrect but you do get this lovely watch and a year's worth of Turtle Wax. What we want… is to be left alone."

"You really think that's an option anymore? You're standing at the mouth of Hell. And it's about

to open." He reached into his pocket and threw a small, rectangular velvet box at them "Don't turn your back on this. You've got to be ready."

"For what?" Dawn asked.

"The Harvest."

"Who are you?" Dawn asked.

"Let's just say I'm a friend."

"Well maybe we don't want a friend!"

"I didn't say I was yours."

As he sauntered away, Buffy huffed. "Who does he think he is?"

"I think he was a vampire," Dawn said. "I sensed it." She opened the jewelry box.

"But if he's a vampire, why would he give us cross necklaces?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know," Dawn said. "But he was really hot!"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, for a vampire!"

###

_The Bronze, present day_

Buffy stepped into the club, relieved to be away from her home and her brat of a sister. She immediately saw Willow and greeted her.

"Where's Dawn?" Willow asked.

"Back home," Buffy said. "We got in a fight."

"Oh." Willow's smile fell from her face.

Buffy then turned to Xander and smiled at him.

"Hey Xander!" Buffy said. "Let's dance."

Before Xander could think twice, Buffy took him by the hand and took the lead in a very seductive dance.

"Xander, did I ever thank you for saving my life?" she whispered.

"No," Xander said, his voice bordering on a squeak.

She smiled at him and leaned in close, almost brushing against his lips. "Don't you wish I would?"

She turned around and headed out of the club, smiling at the look on Xander's shocked face and Willow's despondent one.

As Buffy went out of the club, she heard Cordelia calling her. "Hey Buffy! You're really campaigning for bitch of the year, aren't you?"

Buffy turned around and smirked at the cheerleader. "As defending champion, are you nervous?"

"I can hold my own. We've never been close, Buffy, which is nice, 'cause I don't like you very much. But you have, on occasion, saved the world and all that stuff, so I'm gonna do you a favor."

"Yay me." Buffy's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Your friends can't do it, 'cause they like you. And they're sort of afraid of you. And I know your sister has issues, too."

"What's the favor?"

"I'm going to give you some advice. Get over it."

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked.

"Whatever's causing the Joan Collins 'tude, deal with it, embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet but get over it, 'cause pretty soon you won't even have the loser friends you've got now."

"I'd say it's about time for you to mind your own business.'

"It's long past that time!" Cordelia rolled her eyes and gave a condescending wave. "Good night, Buffy."

Buffy stuck out her tongue. Cordelia turned to leave, but screamed at the sight of a vampire jumping out at her. Buffy quickly went to work beating up the minion, even as three other vampires jumped out of the shadows at her.

"The Master is in need of her blood!" the mook said to the other three vamps, pointing at Cordelia. "The others are inside!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Buffy said. She staked the mook that attacked Cordelia and rushed inside the Bronze to take care of the other three vampires.

Outside in the alley, Cordelia ran off screaming, only to run into Angel.

"Oh! Angel!" Cordelia smiled sweetly at Angel. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to find Buffy," Dawn said.

Cordelia took note of Buffy's twin and snarled. "She's inside the club taking care of a few vampires."

"Thanks," Angel said.

"I hope to see you around," Cordelia said. "I don't know about you, but I'm going home!"

Inside the Bronze, the vampires scared away the club-goers, going after Willow and Xander. Buffy managed to fight one off of Xander and stake him, but the other vamp was already dragging Willow out the back door...only to be met with a stake.

"Dawn!" Buffy said.

Dawn smirked at her twin. "I told you I could hold my own!"

Buffy rolled her eyes "Dumb luck." She looked up at Angel. "Thanks for bringing Dawn here. I hope she wasn't too much trouble."

"Not at all," Angel said with a shy smile. "But we needed to talk about the ritual to revive the Master.

###

Meeting up with Giles at his apartment, the Scooby Gang was able to deduce that the Anointed One really needed the blood of everyone who was in close proximity to the Master instead of the Slayers' blood. Dawn used her vamp senses with a scrying crystal to find out where the bones of the Master were located. The mooks there were easily taken care off by Buffy and Dawn, who then went to work on grinding the Master's bones to dust.

Meanwhile, at the warehouse, Spike and Drusilla discussed the latest fallout with the Anointed one.

"You really know how to bollocks up a perfectly good plan," Spike said. "I'll give you credit for taking advantage of the Slayers fighting for their friends."

"Slayers aren't supposed to have friends!" The Anointed One said.

"Well there weren't supposed to be two Slayers, either," Spike said. "I think it's time we make some changes."

The Anointed One's eyes widened in fear as Spike grabbed a hook from the ceiling and attached it to the top of a cage.

"From now on we're gonna have a little less ritual and a little more fun around here!" Spike said.

After Spike threw down the Anointed One, Drusilla giggled as she watched her Childe throw the Anointed One out the door into the sunlight as night gave way into the morning. The little child screamed as he turned from ash to smoke, blowing away in a light breeze.

###

_The Bronze, the following night._

The Scooby Gang decided to celebrate their latest victory at the Bronze. A band named Nickel was playing and Dawn was really loving the song, dancing with Xander and singing along.

"I-I-I did a stupid thing last night," Dawn sang, her voice sadly off-key.

Buffy enjoyed swaying to the song on her own, listening to the bass and drums as they beat alongside her heart, unaware of three vampires that were walking around the room.

Dawn, however, felt those familiar tingles in the back of her neck. There were too many people in the club, so it was hard to tell where they were. She ran to her sister.

"Buffy," Dawn said. "Vampires. I don't know where they are."

"Guess we should take this outside," Buffy said. "Make them come to us." Buffy took her purse from the table as she walked out, completely passing by Spike.

The two Slayers made quick work of the two vampires, with Dawn throwing her stake at one with perfect aim at his heart and Buffy throwing a few punches to knock the other vampire down before staking it.

As the dust settled, Buffy and Dawn heard soft clapping from the other side of the alleyway. They turned to see a bleach blonde man in a black leather duster.

"So it's true what they say," the bleach blonde man said. "Twin Slayers. Nice work, both of you."

"Who are you?" Dawn asked.

"You'll find out on Saturday," he said.

"What happens Saturday?" Buffy asked.

"I kill you," Spike said. "Both of you."

He disappeared into the night.

"Who does he think he is?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know," Buffy said, "but he's really hot."

"What?!" Dawn said.

Buffy snapped out and went back to her usual snarky tone, "You know, for a vampire."

* * *

Please like and review!


	3. Chapter 2: The Real Evils

Disclaimer: Based on School Hard written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. Also borrows from the most recent Buffy Season 10 comic.

* * *

Angel kept in the shadows as he watched Dawn and Buffy dancing with their friends at the Bronze. Few people used the balcony during the weekdays, so he could keep an eye on the Slayers without looking too much like a creeper. Or so he hoped.

He thought back to when he first met Buffy and Dawn as they headed to the Bronze that dark and cool September night.

Buffy reminded him a lot of Darla: same blonde hair, same snarky mouth, but she didn't really seem interested in him. And even Liam knew that trying to pursue a girl who wasn't interested was a waste of time.

Dawn, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. She had a more innocent air about her. And although her long brown hair was straight and not in dark curls, she reminded him a lot of Drusilla.

His darker side sometimes contemplated seducing both Slayers and reliving the good-old days when he had threesomes with Darla and Drusilla, with the added bonus of the two of them being twins. They may not be identical, but it was close enough to-

Then he felt that familiar punch in his gut and returned to the present. That curse, his conscience that kept him from taking his thoughts too far. He heard Angelus, his inner Liam, in the back of his mind, wanting what he can't have. The guilt followed up in short order and Angel continued to brood, hating himself for ever objectifying the Slayer Twins in the first place.

But suddenly, he felt that familiar buzz in the back of his neck. His Childe was nearby. Angel walked out of the balcony and went up to the roof of the club to look down on the alley outside.

_So the Slayer of Slayers has come to Sunnydale,_ Angel thought. _I gotta warn them_. _But I can't tell much._

###

_Sunnydale High Library_

Jenny was able to get the library open in spite of the late hour. Dawn and Buffy looked through the stacks, searching for books that would give any kind of information about Spike.

"Hey Buffy, you still have a bit of drool on your face," Dawn said with a smirk.

"I do not!" Buffy said as she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Oh come on, Buffy, I have _never_ seen you hot for a guy that wasn't some actor or pro football player."

"There was Owen."

"Yeah, but he turned out to be a reckless idiot. You said you saw way too much of yourself in him. And now there's this bleached blonde hottie-"

"Who has the same name as the dog from _Rugrats _and the baby dragon from _My Little Pony_! Besides, unlike _your_ boyfriend, this vampire doesn't have a soul, ergo, so not dating material."

"Not true!" Dawn said. "I found this volume that says that the vampire is actually a combination of the demon's essence and the human host's persona, often its darkest aspects."

"Did you steal it from that secondhand bookstore in LA?" Buffy asked with a snarl.

"No!" Dawn rolled her eyes. "I actually bought the damn thing. The guy at the register said it came from a library in San Francisco."

"Regardless, this Spike guy wants to kill us next week."

"So why didn't you kill him when we first met him?"

Buffy thought about it for a minute, trying to shake off the memory of Spike swaggering in. "I was surprised, okay? And he was kind of talking."

"Never stopped you before!" Dawn smiled mischievously.

"Whatever," Buffy said. She picked a book off the shelf and flipped through it. "I think I found something." She looked through it again and quickly slammed the book shut.

"What is it?"

"Dawn...you might not like what I've found."

"Tell me first, okay?"

Buffy sighed. "There's stuff in this book about Angel. Before he got cursed with his soul."

"W-well it doesn't matter. He has his soul now."

The two of them walked out, with Buffy waving a volume in her hand.

"Okay. But to be safe, I think we have to stay away from-"

Buffy scowled as she saw Angel by the library desk, waiting for them. Dawn hid behind her sister.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked.

"Angel said that he had information on Spike," Giles said.

"I used to know him," Angel said. "And all I can tell you is that once he starts something he doesn't stop, until everything in his path is dead. Stay away."

"Really? Because I found this book, The Order of Aurelius, and there's some stuff in there about Spike...and you."

Angel's face turned pale.

Buffy turned to her sister. "Are you okay if I read this out loud, Dawnie?"

Dawnie nodded, in spite of her slightly shaking in fear.

Buffy sat down at the table and opened up the volume she found. "Spike. Also known as William the Bloody. Earned his nickname by torturing his victims with railroad spikes…and was often seen with three other vampires: Darla, Drusilla, and Angelus, also known as the Scourge of Europe or the Whirlwind." She closed the book shut and looked at her sister, who looked like she was about to cry. "Dawn, I'm sorry."

"Angel…" Dawn said, "that can't be true...is it?"

"It was before I got my soul, okay? I never saw Spike after that."

"So what is he doing here?"

"He's killed two Slayers in the past," Angel said. "He's probably planning on going for a three-peat and since both of you have to die…"

Buffy glared at Angel. Dawn hung her head. Then, the tall brunette took a deep breath and smiled at Angel. "By the way, we were at the Bronze before. I thought you said you might show.

"You said you weren't sure if you were going," Angel said.

"I was being cool," Dawn pleaded. "You been dating for what, two hundred years, you don't know what a girl means when she says maybe she'll show? Work with me here."

Angel smiled sweetly at Dawn, all the while Willow laughed.

"Wow, two centuries of dating," Willow said. "If you only had two a year that'd still be like four hundred dates with four hundred different -(suddenly interested in weapons)- why do they call it a mace?"

"Yes, well we've slightly more urgent things to discuss," Giles said.

"Like keeping Mom away from Principal Snyder tomorrow night," Buffy said.

"And not dying Saturday," Jenny said.

"I totally forgot about Parent Teacher Night," Xander said.

As everyone's attention turned to furthering their research, Angel left the library in search of Spike and Drusilla.

_The Fish Tank_

Sheila left the club out with Dwayne and Dell. Spike followed behind, intent on making a snack out of the girl for Dru, but a blur of black pushed him further down the alley. The two of them broke out into a fight.

"Well if it isn't the Wanker!" Spike said, dodging Angel's punches.

"If you're after the Slayer Twins, you'd be better off leaving town now," Angel said as he continued his volleys of punches and kicks. "They're under _my_ protection."

"Seems like they can handle themselves well enough, Peaches," Spike said. He grabbed Angel and threw him over his shoulder. "And don't think I didn't sense you earlier at the club. Staying in the shadows as always."

Angel kicked Spike down and holding him under his knee. "Why are you in town?"

"Dru's sick," Spike choked out. "A mob in Prague attacked us."

Angel rolled his eyes. "Typical Spike. Recklessly starting a fight without thinking of the consequences." He let Spike back up and pushed him against a pile of garbage.

"Yeah, well, she needs the blood of a Slayer to regain her strength, as far as I know," Spike said as he lit up a cigarette. "She's already doing better now that she's on a Hellmouth."

"There's a perfectly nice one in Cleveland that you can go to," Angel said.

"She wouldn't make it to Cleveland. If you stuck with us-"

"I guess we're at a standoff, then," Angel said. He took out a stake, ready to take care of Spike, but Spike thought quickly and headbutted Angel, knocking the dark-haired vampire down long enough to make a run for it. He grabbed the first person he found on the streets and headed back to the factory.

###

The following night, Buffy and Dawn stood behind the lemonade stand at Parent Teacher Night. Sheila showed Mrs. Summers around the various classrooms in return for Buffy and Dawn covering for her skipping school yesterday. Unfortunately, Joyce came back round with Snyder and the most disappointing look on her face.

"Buffy? Dawn?" She called. "We have to go. Now."

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other with dread and left the lemonade table. All of a sudden, everyone heard the sound of breaking glass. On the other side of the school building, Spike, in full demonic face, grinned evilly as his henchmen began to run about the school.

"Sorry, luvs," he said. "Couldn't wait."

He headed straight for Buffy and Dawn. Buffy threw a chair at him and told the other adults to go hide somewhere. Dawn quickly took out the holy water spritzer from her purse and sprayed the vampires that came out from the hallways.

"They've blocked the exits," Buffy said. "Head upstairs and get all the adults inside a room somewhere."

"You can't tell us what to do!" Snyder said. "I'm the principal around here!"

"You really wanna mess with me now, Snyder?" Buffy asked.

The glare on her face struck fear in the short principal's heart, followed by a scream as he saw two vampires jump at Buffy and Dawn from behind. Joyce gasped as she watched Buffy and Dawn fight off two men. Buffy pulled out a stake from her purse and stabbed a vampire in the heart while Dawn kicked the other vampire to the ground and staked him.

"What the?" Joyce said.

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other, not really knowing how their mother would react to the fact that vampires were real and that they were Slayers.

"No time to explain now," Dawn said. "Head to the library!"

"Right!" Buffy said. "Giles will fill you in."

Joyce, Snyder, and the other adults ran towards the library and hid.

While the other adults hid inside the library, Joyce felt that instinct only a mother could feel, that desire to protect her daughters. She saw a fire axe hanging in a glass case and broke it open.

Meanwhile, in another hallway, Buffy and Dawn took care of most of the mooks, which left Spike and two other henchmen.

Buffy quietly staked one of the henchmen from behind while Dawn did the same with the other.

"Fee fi fo fum," Spike said. "I smell the blood of two nice ripe...girls." He turned around and grinned, holding his staff proudly like a king.

"Do we really need weapons for this?" Buffy asked.

"I just like them," Spike said as he stroked down his duster. "They make me feel all manly."

Dawn chuckled as she saw her sister's face slightly turn pink.

"And what is so funny?" Spike asked.

"The fact that we're gonna take you down," Buffy said. "Now."

"We'll make it quick!" Dawn said. "It's not gonna hurt long."

"Give me a break Slayers!" Spike tossed his staff and leered at the two Slayers. "I'm gonna make sure it hurts a lot...and hurts real good." Buffy's face turned from pink to red as she gripped her stake even harder.

But just as they were about to break into a fight, the doors opened and Angel jumped in with an axe in his hand.

"Don't worry, Dawn!" Angel said. "I took care of the guys outside. Let me take care of him."

"We don't need you, Angel!" Buffy said. "We were just about to take care of Spike ourselves!"

"Besides that, oh sire of mine," Spike said. "Three against one isn't a fair fight!"

"You're right about that," Angel said. "Especially when none of us have a death wish!"

Spike attacked Angel first, knocking the axe out of his hand. Dawn was about to jump in to help Angel, but Buffy held her back. "We should do a perimeter check," Buffy said. "If Angel thinks he can take care of Spike, he can do so by himself."

Dawn pouted. "Okay."

The two Slayers went down the hallways and found some henchmen guarding every exit. After taking care of them, they went to the library and got the adults out to safety, with Snyder calling the cops.

"Has anyone seen Mom?" Dawn asked.

"No, she never came in with the other adults," Giles said.

"Oh God!" Buffy said. "We gotta find her!"

To their surprise, they found their mother standing in the hallway near the back exit. Spike and Angel were the only vampires left.

"Mom!" Buffy and Dawn said.

They ran to their mother and hugged her. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked.

"I was following you," Joyce said. "I know it's not a lot, but I wanted to help. I went outside and axed a few of the vampires who were closing in on the school."

"But Angel said-" Dawn was interrupted as she saw Spike push Angel off and run out of the school. Angel turned to look at the three ladies, his demonic face prominent from his scuffle with Spike. Dawn screamed and hid behind Buffy. Buffy wasn't sure whether to fight Angel or comfort her sister or explain to her mother about what was going on, but before she could think, Joyce whacked Angel on the head with the fire axe.

"Stay the hell away from my daughters!" Joyce said.

Before Angel had a chance to explain, the police cars came onto the campus with sirens blaring. Angel made a run for it while Joyce, Buffy, and Dawn headed home.

"We have a lot to talk about," Joyce said as they drove home. "I don't really understand what happened today...but those men weren't gang members on PCP."

"They're not," Dawn said.

"But we can talk more about it when we get home," Buffy said.

Meanwhile, Spike escaped back to the factory, where Drusilla was waiting for him.

"The stars have been talking to me," Drusilla said with a childish lilt to her voice. "My Angel is near."

"Yeah, I know," Spike said. "Came with some kind of do-gooder complex. Since when did Slayers come with vampire bodyguards?"

"Something changed him. Ever since Romania, my Angel has been different." She looked out at the skylight and then at Spike. "And you're changing too."

"What do you mean?"

"The dawn lets in the sunshine. You want to dance in it."

"I barely got to fight the Slayers because of the Poofter. If you want me to go find them again, I'm gonna have to wait until Peaches isn't lurking around them!"

Drusilla shook her head and cradled Miss Edith in her arms. She headed down to her room and sang a song to herself, to the tune of Farmer in the Dell "My Angel in the sun. My Angel in the sun. Dancing with dawn light, my Angel in the sun. My little knight is gone. My little knight is gone. Dancing in the sunshine, my little knight is gone."

Spike followed her downstairs. "Dru, I promise you that I'll get the Slayers here and maybe even take care of the Poofter in the process. Just don't go looking for him."

Drusilla danced around the room, unaware, or uncaring of Spike's presence. "And she stands alone, and she stands alone, dancing with Miss Edith, and she stands alone."

Spike knew she was too lost in the song to listen to him, so he let her dance around the room and waited until she was ready for bed.

* * *

So Joyce now knows of the world Buffy and Dawn live in and Drusilla sees the end as it begins. Some new characters enter into the mix next chapter.

Please like and review!


	4. Chapter 3: An Assembly Such As This

Get your barf bags ready because I'm bringing in some people you probably won't like. No need to worry, though, because I'm gonna kill some of them later.

Disclaimer: Joss owns everything. This fanfic is all inspired by him and by Jane Austen.

* * *

It was a huge relief for Dawn and Buffy that their mom was finally let in on the secret. The weekend after Parent-Teacher Night was spent informing their mom on the details of the demons they fought and the powers they had. They were surprised to learn that Joyce spent her college days watching horror movies with friends, which was why she picked up on how to slay a vampire so easily. Giles also had a theory that Joyce could've been a potential slayer.

In the week to come, the family hosted an exchange student from South America named Ampata as part of Sunnydale High's International Culture Week, which included the World Culture Dance at the end of the week.

###

_The Bronze_

"I should've worn something sexy," Dawn said, looking at her costume. "I look like a Disney Princess!"

"Oh come on!" Buffy said as she smoothed the skirt of her Greek toga. "There's nothing wrong with dressing like a Scandinavian. Wasn't your favorite fairy tale The Snow Queen?"

"I should've dressed like Snow White instead!" Dawn pouted as she looked at Xander and Ampata, who were dressed in Spanish costumes.

"Is somebody a little jealous that they don't have a date?" Buffy asked.

"It's not that I hate Ampata!" Dawn said. "But I just feel like, like something's off about her."

"Oh, I don't know," Willow said. "I still remember what you said about Xander a month ago."

###

_One Month Ago_

"So are you and Xander together?" Dawn asked Willow. "Because he's really cute and he likes comic books like I do and-and-and-"

"Calm down, Dawnie!" Willow said. "Breathe!"

Dawn took a deep breath.

"Look, I've only told this to Xander and Jesse, but growing up, I was never that attracted to guys. My first cartoon crush was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. A-a-and it wasn't until middle school when I was browsing the library that I realized that I wasn't alone in my, um, type of attractions."

Dawn looked confused for a minute, but then followed Willow's gaze to the attractive female lead singer of the band that was playing that night. Her eyes widened. "OH!"

Willow nodded. "Not that I haven't told my parents. They're more focused on me being the perfect student than dating."

"I understand." Dawn looked over to Xander, who was trying to talk Buffy into a dance. "Oh come on!"

"What is it?"

"Why does Buffy always get the guys?! I'm the one dressing like an actual girl here!"

"Calm down, Dawnie," Willow said. She gave a mischievous smile. "To be honest, Xander actually likes both of you."

Dawn giggled. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure."

"Buffy is really picky when it comes to guys. She really wants someone who can keep up with her and most guys just don't like having competition from girls."

###

_The Bronze, Present Day_

"Well yeah, but now I have Angel!" Dawn said.

"If you say so!" Buffy said.

The twins felt a tap on their shoulders and turned around to see Giles and Jenny Calendar.

"What's up?" Buffy asked.

"We found a mummified body in the girls' restroom," Jenny said. "I don't think that the mummy actually had a bodyguard."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"I discovered a translation code which enabled me to read the pictograms. They show that the bodyguard's job was to make sure the mummy didn't awaken and escape."

"Not a bodyguard, then," Willow said.

"More like a prison guard," Giles said.

"So Ampata translated wrong?" Dawn asked

"Maybe we should get her to take another look," Giles said.

Giles and Buffy went to get down from the balcony to find Ampata, but Dawn stopped them and said, "Wait a sec. She was wiggy about the seal from minute one."

"Yes, I guess she was," Giles said.

"Her trunks!" Buffy said.

"What about them?" Giles asked.

"We gotta get home," Buffy said. "Look through her things."

"Can I stay here?" Dawn said. "I-if you're thinking what I think you're thinking then…"

Buffy thought about it for a minute. "Willow, make sure to keep an eye out in case anything goes wrong. If I'm right, then Giles and I will be at the museum putting the seal back together."

Dawn nodded with a nervous smile. "Thanks."

Buffy and Giles went straight back to the Summers residence while Dawn and Willow descended from the balcony to keep Ampata away from Xander.

"Hey you!" Dawn said. "Step away from Xander right now!"

Ampata was about to confront Dawn, when she saw her fingers starting to freeze dry. She ran outside, but Dawn was able to stop her by throwing a trashcan lid at her. The two of them fought things out in the alley.

"You're definitely not an ordinary girl," Ampata said.

"Neither are you," Dawn said.

Ampata's body slowly began to regress into its mummified state. Dawn broke off the parts as they appeared, starting with Ampata's hands and arms, then her feet and legs. Finally, Ampata's torso and head turned back into its mummified form. Dawn karate chopped Ampata's head off of her body and stuffed the pieces into a garbage bag.

"So she was-" Xander said.

"The mummy," Dawn said. She sealed up the garbage bag and threw it inside to the backstage area where nobody would go looking for it.

"I can't…" Xander stood in disbelief for a second. "Present company excluded, I have the worst taste in women. Of anyone. In the world. Ever."

"Ampata wasn't evil," Willow said. "At least not to start with. And I think that she cared for you."

"Yeah, but I think the whole sucking-the-life-out-of-people thing would have been a strain on the relationship."

"She was gypped," Dawn said. "She was just a girl and she had her life taken from her. I remember when I heard the prophecy that I was going to die. I wasn't exactly obsessed with doing the right thing."

"But you didn't die," Xander said.

"No, but I still saw it in my dreams afterwards."

Xander sighed. "I don't feel much for partying now."

Dawn pouted at him. "Oh come on. One dance with me. Please?"

Xander resisted for about five seconds. "Okay, fine."

Willow grinned and clapped with glee.

The three of them went back inside the club, unaware that Angel was watching from a few buildings away, staying up on the rooftop to keep out of Dawn's vamp radar.

###

_Restfield Cemetery_

"We have to bury the seal," Giles said. "Make sure it doesn't break again."

"I'm digging, I'm digging!" Buffy said. "I just don't wanna get my toga dirty."

All of a sudden, Giles fell to the ground. Buffy gripped her shovel and defended herself as Spike lunged onto her.

"I should've known," Buffy said.

"Been itching for a fight since last time we met," Spike said. "Where's the Bit?"

"The who?" Buffy asked.

"The Bit! Your sister!"

"She's at a dance." Buffy shoved Spike off of her and ran towards the entrance of a crypt. But Spike used his vampire speed to catch up, following Buffy inside.

Buffy started out with some punches and said, "By the way, do you know which Slayer's blood you'll need for your girlfriend? Because Dawn and I have different sets of DNA."

"Don't really much care," Spike said, blocking her punches and returning his own. "A Slayer is a Slayer."

Buffy kicked Spike to the ground, only for Spike to do a low kick and make her trip as well. She used her hands to catch her fall and fell right on top of him, her face inches away from his. She ignored the pounding of her heart, chalked it up to the adrenaline, and got up to grab her stake that she strapped to her thigh. Spike quickly got up and knocked the stake out of her hands.

Buffy thought quickly and saw that there was a ladder that led down to the sewers. She dragged Spike towards the sewer entrance and threw him down while she made her escape.

Down in the sewers, Spike spit out a bit of sewer water and huffed. For a second, his mind flashed an image of Buffy's hair and eyes in the moonlight dressed in that toga, but it quickly disappeared when Spike saw a raggedy man hiding in the sewers. In need of a meal, he quickly went into game face and fed.

###

_Sunnydale High School_

The next day, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn descended down the stairs from their latest class. Dawn was spilling details about her latest dream with Angel.

"You dreamed about Angel again, Dawn?" Willow asked.

"Third night in a row," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

"What did he do in the dream?" Willow asked.

Dawn smiled mischievously. "Well you know. Stuff."

"Ooh, stuff. Was it one of those vivid dreams where you could feel his lips and smell his hair?

"It had surround sound. I'm just thinking "about him so much lately.

"Well you guys are so right for each other," Willow said.

"Except for the vampire thing," Buffy said with a snark.

"That doesn't make him a bad person. Necessarily.

"Well maybe not in the day time… but you could ask him for coffee some night. It's the non-relationship drink of 's not a date, it's a caffeinated beverage – okay it's hot and bitter, like a relationship that way but —" Willow got cut off by the bell. The three girls went to the library for the usual Scooby meeting.

After getting a lecture from Giles about being vigilant in spite of the lack of demon activity, Dawn and Buffy headed out and saw Cordelia talking with some guys in a black convertible.

"Buffy! Dawn!" Cordelia said. "Come over here!"

The Slayer Twins looked at each other confusedly and then went to Cordelia.

"What's up?" Dawn and Buffy asked.

"So, this is Parker and Riley," Cordelia said, gesturing to the guys sitting in the front of the convertible. "They're having this fraternity party over at UC Sunnydale and they want us to come!"

"I'm kind of seeing someone," Dawn said.

"And aren't you guys a little old to be slumming it with high school girls?" Buffy asked.

"Oh we're just freshmen," Riley said. "I came here all the way from Huxley, Iowa."

"And I'm from LA," Parker said. "Come on. It'll be fun!"

The Summers Sisters folded their arms and said, "We'll think about it."

Cordelia squealed and hugged them, unaware of the twins' winced faces.

###

_Minor's Woods_

Later that night, Buffy and Dawn went out on their usual patrol. The cemetery they went to was unusually large, given that it was close to the UC Sunnydale campus. Buffy and Dawn decided to split up to cover more ground, with Buffy going with Giles and Dawn going with Jenny Calendar.

As Dawn was patrolling the west side of the cemetery, she felt her vamp senses go off. But this time, she knew who it was.

"Um, Jenny?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, Dawn?"

"D-Do you mind checking with Giles and Buffy? I can handle my own."

Jenny gave Dawn a suspicious look. "Okay. But I won't be far."

Jenny went off to find Giles and Buffy. Dawn sighed in relief and called out Angel from his hiding spot.

"Hey Dawn," Angel said.

"Hey yourself," Dawn said, smiling at him.

"So I heard there was this dance last week. Were you there?" Angel asked.

"Well yeah, of course I was."

"Did you dance with anyone?"

"Just Xander. But come on, Angel, we're just friends. You can't be jealous of him."

"But he gets to be in the daylight with you. I never can."

"Well dates are usually more of a nighttime thing anyway. Speaking of which, I was kind of hoping we could go on one sometime?"

"I knew this would happen."

"Really? And what do you think is happening?"

"You're sixteen years old, I'm two hundred and forty."

"I've done the math," Dawn said, folding her arms.

"You don't know what you're doing and you don't know what you want."

"Oh I think I do: I want out of this conversation."

She turned to walk away only for Angel to grab her by the arm.

"Listen," he said. "If we date you and I both know one thing's going to lead to another. Then what?"

"Then… whatever, I don't know, might be nice to find out. But you want to end it before it's begun. Fine."

Angel shook his head.

"It's a Fairy Tale. Only when I kiss you you don't wake up from a deep sleep and live happily ever after."

Tears welled up in Dawn's eyes. "No. When you kiss me I feel like dying inside."

She freed herself from Angel's grip and ran to find Jenny.

###

The next day, Dawn pleaded with Buffy to go to the frat party with her and Cordelia.

"I saw the way that Riley was looking at you," Dawn said. "And he seemed really nice."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "He's definitely cute. But why are you so eager to go to the party? Having some problems with Angel?"

Dawn huffed. "Please. Angel and I aren't anything serious. I'm sixteen. I can play the field if I want to."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

So the three girls headed off to the party. A guy named Richard approached the girls with drinks. Buffy held up a bottled water.

"We brought our own," Buffy said.

"Screw you," Cordelia said. "I'm drinking!" She downed the contents of the glass in one gulp.

Buffy and Dawn separated to let Cordelia mingle with Richard and the other frat boys in search of Riley and Parker.

"Is that Xander?" Dawn asked, seeing the frat boys picking on someone.

The two girls ran over and shoved the bullies off of Xander.

"What are you doing here?" Dawn asked.

"I kind of heard what you girls were planning," Xander said. "I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"You didn't have to," Dawn said.

"Actually, it's nice to have someone here who isn't acting like an idiot," Riley said. "Riley Finn, UC Sunnydale Army ROTC."

"Xander Harris."

"Hey Dawn!" Parker said. "Why don't we share sodas while watching a movie?"

"Okay!" Dawn said.

Buffy took a quick look at Parker: dark hair, leather jacket, easy smile. It was easy to see why Dawn took a shine to him so quickly.

"Maybe we should watch movies together," Buffy quickly said. "My sister and I do everything together after all."

"Everything, huh?" Parker said.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the lewd joke, while Dawn laughed.

Later on, Buffy and Riley shared a dance while Parker led Cordelia and Dawn down to a basement.

"Buffy!" Xander rushed in, covered head to toe in toilet paper. "I can't find Dawn anywhere."

"What?"

"Something must've been in the drinks."

"Oh no!"

Buffy, Xander, and Riley followed Parker down to the entrance of cave.

"Hey!" Parker said. "No intruders!" He knocked Xander and Riley down to the floor, but Buffy dodged him and kicked him down. She shook Cordelia and Dawn until they woke up.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked. "What happened?"

"You were drugged," Buffy said. "We gotta get outta here."

"Help me!" a young female voice cried.

"We gotta save her!" Dawn said.

"Oh no," Cordelia said. "I'm out of here." She turned to run out of the cave, but was stopped by Richard, who held a sword to her throat.

Buffy and Dawn entered the depths of the cave and saw a weak dishwater blonde chained to the wall.

"Isn't that the girl from Santa Barbara who went missing?" Dawn asked. "Tara something?"

"Tara Maclay," the girl said. "I ran away from home. Some guys gave me a ride. There's one of them who's nicer than the rest. He's the one you should look out for."

The two girls turned around to see Parker and Richard dressed in their robes. They chained Buffy, Cordelia, and Dawn to the wall as they and the rest of the frat boys performed the ritual to summon Machida. But as soon as the monster appeared, Buffy got straight to work. She pulled her chains down as well as Dawn's and knocked Parker and Richard down. In the ensuing chaos, the monster devoured Parker and Richard. Buffy threw a sword to Dawn and the two of them made quick work of the giant snake monster.

Once the monster was defeated, Buffy and Dawn released Cordelia and Tara from their chains. They found Xander and Riley at the cave entrance, ready to come at their rescue, but it was obviously unnecessary.

The cop cars came quickly, but Tara hid from them.

"Where are you going?" Dawn asked.

"I don't want to go back to my family!" Tara said. "I can't! I-I-I…" She started crying, cuing Buffy and Dawn to comfort her.

"You don't have to," Buffy said. "We have a bed in the basement."

"Or you could stay with one of the teachers from our school," Dawn said. "We can have you transferred here."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Buffy said. "You'll be safe with us."

"Thanks," Tara said.

###

The next Tara revealed to the Summers family that she ran away to Sunnydale after her mother's death to escape her abusive family. Joyce made up the bed in the basement while Giles and Jenny worked together to create some paperwork to smooth Tara's transfer into Sunnydale High School. Soon, the tall blonde was seen with the rest of the Scooby Gang, particularly close to one Willow Rosenberg.

On Friday night, Buffy and Dawn went out on their usual patrol and came across Angel. Knowing that Dawn and Angel still had issued to work out, she left the two of them alone.

"So, I know it's kind of late, but do you wanna get some coffee right now?" Dawn asked.

Angel shrugged his shoulders and smiled shyly. "Sure."

"You okay going home, Buffy?" Dawn asked.

"Actually, I'll just go on patrol and spend the night at Willow's," Buffy said. "It's a weekend, anyway."

"Cool beans. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

The two of them parted ways and Buffy began her patrol, keeping thoughts of a certain bleach blonde vampire in the back of her mind.

She headed towards a road that led to town and saw Riley walking down the street, calling out to her.

"What are you doing out on the town so late?" Riley asked.

"My sister's out on a date with her boyfriend," Buffy said. "My...um...father and I are hanging around in case things go wrong." she looked to Giles to back her up and Giles gave a sputtered affirmative answer.

"Oh. Well, I kind of wanted to apologize about last weekend. I didn't know about the guys trying to take advantage of high school girls like that."

"You didn't?"

"No. Parker was just someone from one of my classes. I'm rooming with my fellow ROTC guys now."

"That's good."

"I was kind of wondering if you wanted to see a movie with me."

Buffy looked to Giles with pleading eyes and her signature pout. Without saying a word, Giles nodded and went to the Magic Box nearby.

"The answer is yes!" Buffy said.

"Awesome!" Riley said.

And so the two of them headed off to the theatre for a midnight showing of a Bollywood movie.

* * *

Cool your jets! Death will come for Riley eventually. It is merely a matter of time.

Please like and review.

Next week, Dawn and Buffy crlebrate Halloween. But you know things are never that simple!


	5. Chapter 4: I Hope You Saw Her Petticoat

Chapter is based off of Halloween.

You might wanna make sure you turn on your fan, air conditioning, or have something cold on hand for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Joss owns Buffy, Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, and Jane Austen is public domain. All the other antics here are from my own imagination.

* * *

_The Pumpkin Patch_

It was a few days before Halloween. Dawn fell down onto a nearby jack-o-lantern as a result of a fledgling vampire pushing her away. Buffy retaliated by throwing the vampire a few yards away, into a pile of pumpkins that smashed and crashed as they broke the vampire's fall. As Buffy took care of the fledgling, Dawn sensed another vampire lurking nearby. She snuck her way over to a pile of hay and saw a vampire holding a camcorder. She took advantage of the vampire's surprise and threw her stake straight at its heart, striking like a ninja. She looked down and saw that the camcorder's battery was dead. She took out the battery for good measure, leaving the rest behind.

Buffy waited for Dawn at the edge of the pumpkin patch.

"Where were you?" Buffy asked.

"There was another vampire in the hay bales," Dawn said. "I took care of him."

"Wasn't Angel supposed to meet up with you for another date tonight?" Buffy asked after the battle ended.

"Yeah. We were gonna meet up at the Bronze," Dawn said. "How do I look?"

"I think you look good, all things considered," Buffy said.

The Slayer Twins headed for the Bronze and saw Angel smiling at Cordelia.

"Who does she think she is?!" Dawn said.

"Well as far as Cordelia is concerned, Angel is fair game," Buffy said.

"Oh God, Buffy, he's laughing with her!" Dawn turned to leave, but Angel followed her out. Cordelia made a snarky remark about Dawn's hair and left to get a drink at the bar. Buffy followed the head cheerleader while Angel tried to fix the damage he did to Dawn.

"I was just being polite to Cordelia, really," Angel said.

"Yeah, but you also knew we were on patrol," Dawn said. "You could've met up with us at the pumpkin patch."

"I just wanted to apologize."

"You can do that tomorrow." Dawn gave a sarcastic wave goodbye. "Ta ta for now, Angel!"

Dawn went to the bar to grab Buffy and the Slayer Twins left through a different exit. Angel sighed, but felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey Angel!" Cordelia said. "You wanna join me for a dance?"

Thoughts of Dawn lingered on the vampire's mind. Angel shook his head and gave Cordelia a polite smile as he returned to his mansion to brood.

###

_The Factory_

Spike had to admire the way the Slayer Twins worked as he watched the camera footage he got. The blonde Slayer was all strength and brutality while the little brunette fought like a ninja, with agility and precision. He only got to fight the blonde one once, but she had some spunk in her. Memories of the last Slayer he killed flashed in his mind, leading to memories of Spike's few encounters with the older Slayer twin. _I could dance all night with this one, too_, he thought.

Flashbacks gave way to fantasies as he imagined his next encounter with the blonde Slayer. But instead of imagining himself going for the kill, he kept seeing her hair in the moonlight, the bright green of her eyes, and her lithe, but toned muscles…

"Miss Edith needs her tea," Drusilla said, as she glided her way over to Spike and cradled her favorite doll in one arm. She looked up at the television set and the video. "Someone's coming. Coming to change everything."

Spike turned his attention away from the video. "Including the Slayers?"

"Sun into moon, light into dark," Drusilla said. "On Halloween Night is when it will start."

Spike's face took on a pensive look and he smiled at his sire. "Interesting. I might just go out tomorrow after all."

Drusilla gave Spike a half-smile. She stared out into the factory, seeing images of her Childe wrapped up in sunshine that took on the form of a young girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She asked Spike if he loved her, even her insides. His half-hearted reply of "Eyeballs to entrails my sweet" as he continued to watch the video footage told her all she needed to know.

###

_Ethan's Costume Shop_

The following morning, Principal Snyder recruited Buffy, Dawn, and the rest of their friends to volunteer as chaperones for the neighborhood trick-or-treat event. Buffy huffed at the fact that she wouldn't get to enjoy her one night off from demon patrol, but Dawn waxed poetic about the fun of Halloween. After school, Buffy, Dawn, and Willow headed to a new costume shop.

It seemed that almost everyone from Sunnydale High was in the new store, buying costumes of various ghosts and goblins and characters from movies.

"So what do you think we should go for here?" Dawn asked as she looked around the rather large store.

"Well in my opinion, Halloween is come as you _aren't _night," Buffy said. "The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions." She spied the perfect costume on display, immediately grabbed it, and showed it to Willow.

"Ooh!" Willow said. "A time-honored Halloween classic! A-and kind of ironic, when you think about it."

"I think you might be using ironic in the wrong sense," Dawn said. "But that's not for me. I've already had that nightmare! I want to show Angel that I can be just as cool as Cordelia."

Dawn looked around the store and gravitated towards mannequin that displayed long blonde wig styled into two buns, one on each side, a white and blue school uniform with a red bow in the center, white elbow-length gloves, a knee-length blue skirt, and a pair of knee-high red boots.

"I think I have the perfect costume in mind," Dawn said.

"You have excellent taste," the store owner said. "This costume came all the way from Japan. It's your typical Japanese schoolgirl outfit with a few extra accessories."

"Huh," Buffy said, looking at the costume. "Well, Darla did try to impress Angel by dressing as a schoolgirl."

"Can I afford this though?" Dawn asked.

"I'm sure I can give a good discount," the store owner said. "And I'll throw in the wig with the accessories for free."

"Done!"

###

Dawn, Buffy, and Willow returned to the Summers residence to change into their newly acquired costumes from Ethan's.

Buffy stood in front of her mirror, adjusting the black cape and the fake teeth. She loved the dark curls of the wig on her head, how the scarlet dress emphasised her waist, and the hem that brushed against her ankles instead of going all the way down to the floor. For a moment, the memory of a bleach blonde man in a leather duster flashed in her mind, but Buffy shook it off.

She turned to look at Dawn, who stood across the hall, dressed in the white and blue schoolgirl uniform with red boots and white gloves. The gold headband actually fit around her forehead like an inverse tiara.

"Looking good, meatball head," Buffy said, pointing out the strange hairstyle of the wig that Dawn wore.

"Maybe it's some kind of schoolgirl look," Dawn said, "like pigtails."

"Japan's style is definitely of the weird."

"I gotta say _you _look awesome, though," Dawn said.

Willow stepped out of the bathroom, nervously shaking in her very revealing outfit. "This feels really weird to me."

"I think Tara's gonna love it, though!" Dawn said.

"She's downstairs waiting," Buffy said. "Let's go!"

The twins went downstairs and saw Tara dressed like Tinker Bell, using a costume that she made from her mother's old dress and a pair of fairy wings from a costume Dawn wore last year.

"You look so cute!" Dawn said.

"And you both look great!" Tara smiled sweetly at her new friends.

"You think that's something?" Buffy asked. "Wait til you see Will-Oh." Buffy's smile fell from her face as Willow descended from the stairs dressed in a ghost costume. Tara shrugged her shoulders.

"You look great, Tara!" Willow said.

The four girls went off to the school for the trick-or-treat project. Xander was there to greet them, dressed in army fatigues. "Duchess Buffonia!" Xander said, nodding to Buffy's very regal style.

Buffy flashed him her vampire teeth, which made Xander jump back in fright. "Glad those aren't real!"

Dawn came in next, waving around her crescent moon wand.

"Super Schoolgirl!" Xander said.

"It came all the way from Japan," Dawn said.

"I'm digging it." Xander turned to Tara and took a look at her dress. "Did you make this costume yourself, Tinker Bell?"

Tara nodded. "I-I like your costume, too."

"It's amazing what you can find in your parents' basement," Xander said. "But I got my gun from that new costume store." He turned to see Willow huddling in, her shoulders slumped over.

"Willow?" Xander asked. "Is that you under there?"

"Uh huh!" Willow murmured.

"Let's not waste any more time than I have to!" Snyder barked.

The five teens were assigned to their groups and headed out for trick-or-treating.

###

What started out as a supposedly quiet night of gathering candy with children turned into chaos as some of the children changed into the costumes they wore. Willow was helpless as she watched her group of kids run off into the night. She gasped for air and fell down on the porch of the house she visited. She stepped out of her body and wandered down the street.

Xander's toy gun was replaced with a semi-automatic machine gun. Xander whipped around and pointed his gun at Willow.

"Who are you?" Xander asked.

"I'm a friend. Something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween and now I _am _a ghost. You were supposed to be a soldier, and now, I guess you're a real soldier." She hesitated a bit and saw that Tara was thankfully still Tara. The tall blonde was hiding behind a tree, using her magic to shield herself. Willow then turned to the house where she last saw Dawn.

She passed through Xander and saw a different girl in Dawn's place. She still had Dawn's face, but her hair was long and blonde, styled with pigtails that had buns on the top, accessorized with round red hair orbs. The school uniform that Dawn was a few inches shorter and looked more like a leotard with a very short skirt. She also saw that Dawn was holding a crescent moon wand.

"Who are you?" Willow asked.

"I'm Sailor Moon!" Dawn cried out. "The champion of justice! On behalf of the moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil!" She stood in a heroic pose with one hand flashing the "I love you" sign and the other hand pointing at Willow. "But you're not a monster, are you?"

"No! I'm a friend," Willow said.

"I don't think I'm in Tokyo, either," Dawn said. "Where are we?"

"America."

"And how am I speaking English?"

"I-I-I don't knowl.." Willow thought things over for a minute, but shook it off. "Never mind, we need to find your sister and figure out what's going on."

Willow turned to Xander and said, "No more shooting! We gotta get outta here! That's an order!"

Xander nodded and followed Willow down the street.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Buffy stood up after being knocked down by a heavy feeling in her chest. She felt the bumps on her forehead, the fangs in her mouth, and the craving for blood. She smiled as she emerged from the alleyway. The moonlight shone on her pale face and yellow eyes as she looked around for her prey.

The first thing that caught her eye was a bleach blonde vampire in game face, smiling at the chaos that was happening around the block.

"Well that's just...neat!" Spike said with a smile.

Buffy grinned evilly and jumped at Spike from behind. Her fangs pierced his neck and she drank a few gulps before turning him around to face her.

"I knew you would come," Buffy said, blood still dripping from her mouth.

"Since when did you become a vampire?!" Spike asked, pushing Buffy off of her.

"Since now, I guess," Buffy said. "Not that it really matters."

Spike kept his mind focused on finding the other Slayer, the weaker one, and ran off, but Buffy was quicker. She grabbed him and threw him inside a warehouse down by the docks.

"Oh come on, Spikey-wikey," Buffy said with a pout. "There will be no running from me."

"Hate to say this," Spike said, "but I don't think you're a Slayer anymore and I'm trying to actually find one."

Buffy pushed him further into the warehouse and laughed. "You know, you're really looking a gift horse in the mouth here. You know what this means? My being a vampire and all?"

Spike shook his head as he found himself backed up against a wall. He took a good look at the Slayer-turned-vampire. Her blonde hair was now a cascade of long, black curls that stopped at her waist. Her scarlet gown pushed up her chest and emphasized her well-toned waist. The sleeves of the dress hugged her muscled arms as if she was sewn into the dress.

Buffy giggled as she stood close enough for him to touch, showing off her assets to him as she said in a husky voice. "It means that could do anything I want now." She let her hands brush his arms, feeling the firmness of his muscles. "I don't have to pout and whine and feel the burden of slayerness." She played with the curls of his hair, twirling the foremost curl around her finger. "I mean, I could be rich, I could be famous. I could have anything. Anyone." She caressed his face, feeling the sharpness of his cheekbones. "Even you, Spike."

She leaned herself in closer, letting her hips rub against his. She wrapped one leg around his while the other leg straddled his hips and whispered in his ear, "I could ride you at a gallop till your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of." Her hips continued to grind against his while her hands caressed his chest. "I could squeeze you till you popped like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more and you know why I don't?"

"Why not?" Spike gasped as Buffy licked his earlobe.

"Because _you_ are too busy hanging onto your flimsy little lamb of a girlfriend to see that I'm twice the woman she is," Buffy said. She pushed herself off of Spike and did a "come hither" gesture. Spike stood up and took a few steps close to Buffy, only to be met with a punch to the face.

"You want a piece of me, baby?" Buffy asked. "You gotta catch me first!"

Buffy turned to run out of the warehouse.

Meanwhile, Willow, Xander, Tara, and Dawn headed to Sunnydale High School. Willow saw Angel standing on the steps leading into the school.

"Angel!" Willow said. "You're still you!"

Angel shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. I'm not exactly in a costume though."

"So maybe whatever's going on is some kind of spell with costumes."

"B-but I'm not affected," Tara said. "I m-made my costume."

Willow thought things over. She turned to Xander and said, "We have to go to the library. Follow me, Xander"

"Yes, ma'am!" Xander said.

Dawn stepped forward and gave Angel a challenging look. "And who are you?"

"You don't recognize me, Dawn?"

"I have these bad vibes around you," Dawn said. "Are you a monster from the Negaverse?"

"Nega-what?"

"Dawn thinks that she's some kind of superhero from Japan," Willow said. She grabbed Dawn by the hand and said, "Come on, Dawn, we gotta go."

Dawn glared at Angel and followed Willow inside.

Giles was surprised to find Willow, Xander, Dawn looking very different in their costumes.

"What is going on?" Giles asked.

"Something happened that changed almost everyone into their costumes," Willow said.

"Except for me, for some reason," Tara said looking away from Giles.

"Well, where did you get your costumes?" Giles asked.

"I m-m-made my costume," Tara stammered.

"Yeah, and the rest of us got our costumes from this new place, Ethan's," Willow said.

The old Watcher's face took on a horrified look.

"Tara?" Giles asked. "Can you look for a spell to put a barrier on this place? I don't want anyone coming in here."

Tara nodded. Willow gave Tara a reassuring look. "I know you can do it," Willow said. She turned to Xander and Dawn. "Xander, don't shoot anything. Just prepare a good barricade. Dawn...what can your crescent moon wand do?"

"It turns monsters back into people!" Dawn chirped.

"Perfect! Use that!"

Dawn nodded as she stepped out into the hallways and Willow and Giles headed out to Ethan's costume store.

A group of little demons ran down the hallways. Dawn stood at the end of the hallway, crescent moon wand in hand. A light harp music played as Dawn held her wand up to the sky.

"Moon Healing Escalation!" Dawn cried.

The little demons were surrounded by a bright light and screamed "REFRESH!" as they transformed back into kids.

###

Spike caught Buffy as soon as she was out the door and led her back inside the warehouse.

"I love a vampire who knows what he wants," Buffy said. She wrapped her arms around him and began kissing Spike. At first, Spike kept his eyes open, not wanting to betray his ripe wicked plum, but he felt that same adrenaline rush that came when he first saw Buffy dancing at the Bronze. He closed his eyes and returned Buffy's kisses with his own.

Over in the costume shop, Giles ordered Willow to leave as he confronted his old friend. After beating Ethan down, the chaos mage told the old watcher how to break the spell. Giles threw the statue as hard as he could down to the ground, watched as it shattered on the floor, and looked up to find Ethan gone without a trace.

Spike and Buffy started moaning as Buffy removed the leather duster from him. Spike pulled Buffy in for another kiss as his hands went up to caress Buffy's long dark hair...only to find himself holding a wig instead.

Buffy gave Spike a hard punch to the face, knocking him down to the ground, before running off home.

Spike groaned in frustration, deciding to head back to the factory to make love with Drusilla. He was glad that she didn't read minds or else she'd probably torture him for not thinking of her as their bodies entwined.

###

The next day, Buffy acted unusually quiet, choosing instead to observe Dawn as the younger twin was able to lift five more pounds than usual.

"I don't know who this Sailor Moon is, but I think I got a little strength from her," Dawn said.

"That's great!" Buffy said. "Maybe I can start teaching you some stuff that I know."

"Awesome!" Dawn said.

"So what happened to you?" Willow asked. "You bought that vampire costume from Ethan's."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I was a vampire for a night. But nothing happened."

"Thank God it was only temporary," Xander said.

Buffy couldn't help but agree and spent the rest of the day helping Dawn with her strength training.

When Buffy went to bed that night, the memories of being a vampire haunted her. The bloodlust, the lack of guilt she felt, the wild and wanton way she came onto Spike made her body ache. She tossed and turned, trying to focus her thoughts on anything else. She imagined the glamorous action heroes and football players she drooled over. She tried imagining Riley sharing her bed. But none of these men could help satisfy that particular craving she had. So Buffy fell asleep in a frustrated state, a bundle of hot and bothered nerves that longed to be touched.

* * *

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

Please like and review!


	6. Chapter 5: You See But Half

Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing.

This chapter is based off of Lie to Me, but also includes stuff from "Dear Boy."

Joss owns everything. I just write fanfiction.

* * *

Depend upon it, you see but half. You see the evil, but you do not see the consolation. There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere— and those evil-minded observers, dearest Mary, who make much of a little, are more taken in and deceived than the parties themselves." - Mansfield Park

###

_The night was almost as thick as the fog that clouded the old buildings of what looked to be London. Dawn heard passersby dressed in muslin dresses and silk waistcoats, speaking in various British accents. She walked into a dark alley and saw a man with broad shoulders dressed in black, his hair a somewhat disheveled mess. She felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand up as he leaned into the light of a nearby window. It was Angel. She called out to him, but he didn't hear her. Dawn took a couple steps forward and screamed as she saw two dead bodies in the alley: a woman in a yellow corset dress and a distinguished older man in a grey coat and tails. Dawn looked up and gasped at the sight of the woman Angel smiled at. She wore a dark red long-sleeved dress and a purple hat over her blonde curls._

_"__Darla," Dawn said._

_She cringed as she watched Angel licked the blood from Darla's mouth. Then she watched as Darla led Angel out of the alley into the street. Their eyes were fixated on three sisters, two of them dressed in blue and the one in the middle dressed in a long-sleeved light green cotton dress with a dark grey bonnet covering her dark brown curls. _

_"__Did you find me a saint?" Angel asked._

_"__Better than that," Darla said. "She has the sight."_

_Dawn gasped as she recognized the girl in the green dress. The harsh blue eyes, the curly brown hair. It was Drusilla, before she became a vampire._

_Darla and Angelus followed Drusilla and her sisters down the street, but Darla stopped Angel, telling him to "let the plum ripen." Dawn followed Drusilla and her sisters as they went further down the street, past the carriages and other passersby._

_"__Catherine, are you alright?" one of Drusilla's sisters asked._

_"__There are wolves on the prowl," Drusilla said._

_All of a sudden, Dawn found herself inside of a dark room with candles and stained glass windows. Darla came in, draping herself over Angel while Drusilla curled up in a corner. Pure horror filled Dawn from her head to her toes as Darla rolled on top of Angel in the heat of passion. _

_"__So do we kill her during or after?" Darla asked._

_"__Neither," Angel said as he pushed down the corset of Darla's dress. "We turn her into one of us. Killing is so merciful in the end, isn't it? The pain has ended."_

_"__But to make her one of us?" Darla asked. "She's a lunatic."_

_"__Eternal torment."_

_Angel rolled Darla over, closer to Drusilla, who laughed and cried with insanity and despair as they began making love to each other and making her into one of their own._

_Then, Dawn found herself out in the middle of some old city. A mob carrying torches and pitchforks was chasing Spike and Drusilla out onto a wide bridge. Spike carried a pale and thin Drusilla like small child. Dawn looked to the mob and saw one of them carrying a syringe. She looked to Drusilla and saw small marks on her arms. Taking advantage of the super speed that came with being a vampire, Spike made a run for it and carried Drusilla from the bridge to a road that led off to the countryside, dropping her inside of his black Desoto. _

_"__We'll get you to a Hellmouth, luv," Spike said as he started the car. "Might even find those legendary Slayer twins."_

_"__You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," Drusilla sang_

_"__Sunshine? What do you mean by that?"_

_"__Within the Valley of the Sun, there will be two, two little Slayers" Drusilla continued to sing, weakly._

_"__You saying the Slayer Twins are in Old Batface's town?"_

_Drusilla smiled and laughed. "Run and catch. The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch."_

_"__Alright. We'll get on a ship. It'll take a while, but we'll get to Sunnydale. And we'll get you better."_

_Spike drove off straight into Dawn's path. He was about to run her over when-_

Dawn woke up with a gasp. The first thing she did, like she always did after getting a dream, was take a notebook out and scribble down what she saw. Then, she grabbed a jacket and climbed down the tree that grew outside of her window. Once she got down, she ran as fast as she could in search of Angel.

She ran out to a playground and saw a little boy playing on a jungle gym. A waiflike woman with curly dark hair danced towards the boy, her white dress swishing as she walked.

Dawn couldn't hear what the woman in white was saying, but Dawn's vamp senses indicated to the Slayer that the woman in white was a vampire, most likely Drusilla. Dawn gasped as she saw Angel walking towards her. The boy ran off and the two vampires shared what looked to be an intimate conversation, with Drusilla brushing her hands against Angel, leaning in close to him. Dawn wasn't sure, but it looked like Drusilla was _kissing_ Angel!

She felt her breath getting shorter, tears welling up in her eyes. Quietly sobbing, Dawn ran back home, up to her room, and let all her tears come out, sobbing softly. As she curled up in her bed, she felt a strong pair of arms around her.

"Dawn?" Buffy asked. "Are you okay?"

Dawn shook her head. "Angel…"

"What did he do this time?"

Dawn sniffled as she explained her nightmare and seeing Angel out at the park with Drusilla.

"Shh," Buffy said, patting her twin sister's head. "It's okay."

"I love him so much, Buffy...I just don't know if I can trust him now."

"I know," Buffy said. "I know. Let's go downstairs and make some hot chocolate."

Dawn took another sniffle. "Okay."

###

The next morning, Buffy and Dawn looked at the volumes that chronicled the Order of Aurelius. Dawn couldn't stop staring at the picture of Drusilla. She looked so delicate and fragile, like a porcelain doll with hypnotic china blue eyes. It was no wonder that her profile said that she was a paramour of Spike's and Angel's special little Childe.

She sighed and got up, looking at the older volumes on the shelf for something, anything to distract her. A book spine with an intricate geometric pattern and strange letters on the title caught her eye. Dawn pulled the book off the shelf and skimmed through it.

"Hey, Buffy, I got something," Dawn said.

Buffy got up from the table and looked over her sister's shoulder.

"What'cha got, Dawnie?" Buffy asked.

"It's from Prague," Dawn said. "Translated from the original Czech. It's about Drusilla. And what they did to her."

Buffy looked at the volume. "We have to make sure Spike doesn't find out about this."

Dawn skimmed a few pages until something jumped out at her. "This is the cure! You said that Spike was looking for a cure for Drusilla, right?"

"Yeah."

She closed the book shut. "So what do you wanna do, big sis?"

Buffy paused and twiddled her fingers behind her back. "To be honest, I'm not really sure."

"Is it because of what happened on Halloween?" Dawn asked.

Buffy nodded and rested her fingers on the belt loops of her jeans. "Dawn, will you promise that you won't tell anyone about this? Not even Giles or Mom?"

Dawn nodded.

"I still remember everything about what happened when I became a vampire," Buffy said. "The craving for blood, the lack of guilt, and...other things. And from what you told me...I don't really see Drusilla as a threat."

"But the ritual."

"We can keep Drusilla weak. We might even convince Spike and Dru to leave town."

Dawn held her hands up in front of Buffy's face, waving them in front of her. "Hello! We're talking about Spike here! Slayer of Slayers? Just because you're all hot for Spike-"

Buffy swatted Dawn's hands aside. "So not!"

"Oh please! You dressed as a vampire for Halloween! And I still remember how you drooled over him the first time we met him."

"Last time I checked, I went out on a date with Riley, who is very much of the non-vampire variety."

Dawn put her hands on her hips and gave her sister a sassy look. "And how well did that date go?"

Buffy huffed. "It was...okay. Besides, we're just casual. Not all first dates went as well as yours do."

"It was that bad?"

Buffy cringed. "It wasn't bad. It just wasn't good either. I'm glad that he saved me from getting drugged and all, but all we did was watch an old Bollywood movie. We didn't have that much conversation."

"I guess there's always next time."

The two girls headed out to meet with Xander and Willow in the lounge area and were surprised to see a familiar face: a tall, young man with a boyish face and perfectly styled dark hair.

"Omigosh Ford!" Dawn gushed. She ran up to the young man and hugged him tightly, happy to find him returning her hug.

"You know him?" Xander asked.

"Billy Fordham. Fifth grade flashback," Buffy said. "We grew up together in LA."

"I had the hugest crush on him," Dawn said.

Ford smiled meekly as Dawn let go of her hug.

"So what are you doing here in Sunnydale High?" Buffy asked.

"Matriculating," Ford said with a meek smile.

"Say what?" Buffy and Dawn asked.

"I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High," Ford said. "Dad got transferred and boom -just dragged me out of Hemery and put me down here."

"That's great!" Dawn said.

"I'm glad you think so," Ford said.

The bell rang.

"That's my cue to get to French class," Ford said.

"Oh that's my next class, too," Dawn said. "I'll walk you there."

While Dawn walked off with Ford, Buffy, Willow, and Xander headed out to their next class.

"So Dawn had the biggest crush on this new guy and you never fought over him," Xander asked. "At all?"

"Dawn and I tend to go for different types of guys," Buffy said.

"So you never fought over Angel, either?" Willow asked. "Because he is pretty muscular."

"I like muscles, but I prefer definition to size," Buffy said. "Oh my gosh! I just realized that Angel and Riley look practically the same!" A howl of laughter bubbled out of the blonde Slayer as she clutching her stomach, staggering into the classroom in a laughing fit.

###

_The Bronze_

Ford and Dawn laughed as they danced along to the music of the band that played that night, making conversation about their favorite bad movies. Over at a nearby table, Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Tara listened to the music as they sipped milkshakes.

Dawn ran back to the table, still in a fit of giggles. However, the smile quickly ran from her face as she looked towards the bar at Angel.

"I'll be right back," Dawn said. "I just need to get a shake."

Ford sat down at the empty chair next to Buffy's table and watched as Dawn went towards a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair.

"Who's that?" Ford asked.

"Dawn's on-again, off-again boyfriend," Buffy said. "They're currently in the up-in-the-air phase."

Over at the bar, Dawn gave Angel her sweetest smile.

"So I saw you at the playground while I was patrolling last night," Dawn said.

"What?"

She immediately frowned and said in a low voice, "I saw you. With another girl. And I'm pretty sure you know who she is."

Angel's face turned paler than usual. "Dawn, nothing happened."

Dawn put her hands on her hips. "I don't know. She seemed very affectionate to me."

"I didn't do anything. I told Drusilla to leave town." Angel realized what he said and cringed.

"So it was Drusilla then. Your Childe."

Angel looked down at his feet.

"I had a Slayer dream, Angel. I couldn't believe you would…" Her voice trailed off.

"Whatever you saw, that wasn't me, Dawnie."

Dawn folded her arms and glared as hard as she could. "You don't have the privilege of using that."

She turned on her heels and followed her sister out to the alley. She grabbed a stake from her inside jacket pocket as her sister fought a couple of vamps that jumped out at her. As the vampires turned to dust, the two of them turned around to see Ford coming out of the club.

"Sorry about that," Dawn said.

"They really need to clean up this alley," Buffy said.

"Oh, no worries. I know that you're vampire slayers."

"You what with the what?!" Buffy and Dawn said.

###

As Ford walked Buffy, Dawn, and Tara home, he explained to the twins how he witnessed the fight they had back in Hemery High and how he escaped the gym just as they burned it down.

Buffy and Dawn waved Ford off as he left for home. Then they went upstairs to get ready for bed.

"Isn't it kind of weird that Ford knows that we're vampire slayers?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know. It's nice to have someone else that I can open up to," Dawn said. "I don't have to hide anything from him."

"I take it that it has something to do with Angel's usual cryptic behavior?"

Dawn nodded.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. Then, she went downstairs to check on Tara.

"How's it going?" Buffy asked.

"I'm alright," Tara said. "But there's something about Ford I think you should know."

"What do you mean?"

"I have this ability to read auras." Tara waved her hands in front of Buffy and revealed a bright yellow glow that surrounded her. "As we were walking home, I noticed that Ford's aura was kind of murky."

"What does that mean?"

"Usually, an aura is murky when a person is in a low mood, but I also think he's keeping something secret. I read somewhere that auras can indicate when people are lying."

Buffy nodded. "I thought that might be the case. I don't remember seeing Ford during the battle with Lothos. But we gotta have evidence."

Tara smiled. "I can call Willow and investigate this with her and Xander."

Buffy smiled back. "You go do that."

###

Tara called up Willow to check on Ford's transfer records, but a quick search showed that Ford wasn't in the school records at all. Xander, of course, was eager to find out what kind of deep, dark secrets Ford was hiding. The three of them snuck out of their respective homes and went to a place called The Sunset Club. There they found about a dozen or so teenagers dressed like vampires. Some wore black jackets and capes while others wore polyester knock-offs of period dresses. Tara and Willow giggled at the sight of one guy wearing a red shirt and black pants with a long black coat over it.

Pretending to be friends of Ford's, the three Scoobies made small talk with the Goth kids, who loved vampires and saw them as tragically beautiful, romantic, and alluring. Tara returned back to the Summers residence and relayed the information she and the others gathered to Buffy.

The next day, Buffy and the other Scoobies met up with Dawn at the library for lunch. Dawn giggled at the sight of Giles and Jenny looking particularly cozy with each other, with Giles whispering sweet nothings into Jenny's ear and Jenny giggling and whispering her own sweet nothings back to him.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who had a great time yesterday," Dawn said.

Giles blushed and stuttered, "W-well Miss Calendar and I, she-"

"I took Rupert out on a date," Jenny said. "I wanted to give him a break from all the dusty old books here, so we went out to a show in LA."

"Ooh!" Willow's eyes widened. "What kind of show?"

"R-Rocky Horror Picture Show," Giles said with a blush. "It's not the kind I would take you guys to see."

Buffy's eyes widened and then she let out a howl of laughter.

"Buffy, did you get possessed by a hyena spirit or something?" Xander asked.

Buffy shook her head. "Sorry. Just the thought of Giles's face while he watched Sweet Transvestite is just too much for me." She took a deep breath and let out one last giggle before sitting down.

"So, um, how was patrol?" Giles asked.

"Just some vamps at the alley outside of the Bronze," Buffy said.

"We also took that volume we found home with us," Dawn said. "The one about Drusilla and what happened to her in Prague. By the way, where's Ford? I thought he could listen in with us."

Buffy, Willow, Tara, and Xander looked at each other uncomfortably.

"What's going on?" Dawn asked.

Buffy turned to her sister and beckoned Willow and Tara to sit down next to her. "There's something you should know about Ford."

Dawn's face fell as she listened to what Buffy, Willow, and Tara told her. But in spite of some tears welling up in her eyes, she took a deep breath.

"Ford asked me if I wanted to go out on a date with him," Dawn said. "I didn't give him an answer yet."

"Then let's make a plan to make sure we deal with Ford and the other vamp wannabes without anyone getting hurt," Buffy said.

Dawn nodded.

Later that afternoon, Dawn met up with Ford and agreed to go out with him to the Sunset Club. She adjusted the bracelet she wore on her arm and met up with Buffy by their lockers.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Buffy asked.

Dawn nodded. "It seems my love life is just doomed to failure."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You'll work things out with Angel. You always do. And if it helps, at least you didn't go out on a date with Cardbord GI Joe."

Dawn giggled. "Maybe you should come along. I mean, I'm very certain that a certain bleach blonde vampire will be there."

"Don't you dare!"

The two Slayers giggled and went off to their next class.

###

_Sunset Club_

Dawn fingered her necklace that had a key-shaped pendant hanging from it as she walked into the Sunset Club. She saw Ford chatting things up with his friends. Using her newly acquired strength, she elbowed the guy at the door in the gut and told her to let her in.

"Dawn?!" Ford asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry Ford, I just couldn't wait till tonight. I'm rash and impulsive - it's a flaw.

"We all have flaws," Ford chided.

"So I'm constantly learning. I'm still fuzzy on exactly what yours is. I think it has to do with being a lying scumbag."

"I really don't think you'd understand."

"Oh I understand. I just can't comprehend why you would want to be a vampire and why you'd sell me out to them!"

But as soon as Dawn started talking, she heard a door slam shut. She looked at the door and saw that there was no handle on the inside.

"It's a bomb shelter, Dawn," Ford said. "It can only be open from the outside. The only other exit leads straight to a sewer pipe and that's pretty much locked, too."

Dawn looked back down at Ford. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Why are you fighting it?" a pale blonde girl dressed in black said. "It's what we want."

"It's our chance for immortality," a dark haired guy in a tux and cape said.

"This is a beautiful day!" the blonde Goth said. "Can't you see that?"

"What I can see is that right after the sun goes down Spike and his friends are gonna be pigging out at the all-you-can-eat moron bar!" Dawn said.

The caped guy shuddered. "She's an unbeliever. She taints us."

Dawn glared down at the caped guy and yelled. "I'm trying to save you! You're playing in some serious traffic here, do you understand that? You're gonna DIE. The only hope you have of surviving is to get out of this pit right now and my God could you HAVE a dorkier outfit?"

Some of the crowd giggled at her remark. Ford shook his head and went upstairs.

Dawn lowered her voice down. "You realize that most of your little friends are just gonna die."

"I know," Ford said with a shrug. "But caring? That's another thing altogether. All I care about is the fact that I'll become immortal."

"I got a newsflash, braintrust. That's not how it works. You die. And if you're lucky, an echo of your soul still remains, but if you don't work things out with the demon, you're gone from this world and the demon takes over, pretending to be you, but your soul? It's damned."

"It's better than nothing."

Dawn scoffed. "Your life is nothing?"

Ford chuckled cynically.

"Ford, these people don't deserve to die," Dawn said.

"Neither do I!" Ford cried. "But apparently nobody took that into consideration, 'cause I'm still dying."

Dawn's eyes widened in shock.

"I look good, don't I?" Ford scoffed. "Let me tell you something. I got maybe six months left and by then what they bury won't even look like me. It'll be bald and shriveled and it'll smell bad. Not human. I'm not going out that way."

Dawn turned away from Ford to look out at the crowd.

"I'm sorry, Summers, did I screw up your righteous anger riff? Does the nest of tumors liquefying my brain kind of spoil the fun?"

Dawn turned back around with the saddest look in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I had no idea… But this is still very wrong."

"Okay, well, you try vomiting for twenty four hours straight because the pain your head is so intense and then we'll discuss the concept of right and wrong." He pointed to his friends below. "These people are sheep. They want to be vampires 'cause they're lonely, or miserable, or bored. I don't have a choice."

"You have a choice, Ford!" Dawn said. "You can still choose to make the most of what you have left."

"You think I need to justify myself to you?" Ford asked.

Dawn gave a snotty "HA!" and said, "I think this is part of your little fantasy drama. Isn't this just how you imagined it? You tell me how you've suffered and I feel sorry for you. Well I do feel

sorry for you, but you know something? I'm gonna get you and everyone else out of here anyway."

Her epic moment, however, was ruined as Spike, Drusilla, and their minions charged in. But just as they were about to feed, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Tara came in shortly after. Tara cast a spell on the door so that it was able to open from the inside. Willow and Xander took out their stakes and took out a couple of the minions who were already starting to feast on the teenagers.

Buffy grabbed Drusilla and pointed a stake at her chest.

"We know why you're here Spike!" Buffy said. "We also know what will cure Dru. But it doesn't involve us."

"What?" Spike asked.

Dawn's eyes widened, realizing what Buffy was talking about.

"Buffy, don't!" Dawn said.

"Let them all go and we'll tell you what'll cure her," Buffy said. "Bite _anyone_ in this room that has a heartbeat, and your girlfriend fits in an ashtray."

Drusilla gasped and cried. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOO! Snake in the woodshed! Snake in the woodshed!"

Buffy grimaced. She forgot that Drusilla was psychic. She probably knew what else Buffy and Spike shared together. But she knew that look on Spike's face as well.

"Let them go," he said firmly to his men. "All of them!"

Dawn put Ford's arms behind his back and led him out the door. "No! Don't! I don't wanna go!"

The brunette Slayer ignored his pleas as she walked him up the stairs and out into the town.

Meanwhile, the other minions backed off as Willow, Xander, and Tara led everyone out of the club. Once everyone was gone, Buffy threw Drusilla over to Spike. Then she reached into her purse and threw a bag of pig's blood at them.

"Meet me outside of the Bronze later this week," Buffy said.

Spike nodded and watched the blonde slayer leave, shutting the door behind her. The magic Tara cast on the door wore off and the vampires were forced to break open the sewer entrance in order to get out.

###

Dawn and Buffy took Ford to their house, where his parents came to pick him up.

"You sure we should've saved Ford?" Buffy asked.

"Something in my dreams taught me something," Dawn said. "Making him a vampire would've let him off too easy. He'll just end up at the wrong end of our stakes. Letting him live? He might actually learn to make the most of what he has left. Or he could choose to focus on the suffering."

"Wow. I don't know if that's a cold punishment or actually a nice thing to do."

"It's both," Dawn said. "So are you really gonna tell Spike what we know?"

"I want them to get out. Leave Sunnydale. They're not gonna destroy the world."

"But Spike still wants to kill us."

"Only to save Dru. We can make sure she stays alive, but not as a threat to us."

"I don't know how we're gonna do that," Dawn said. "I don't want to get him involved."

"I know. We'll figure something out."

"Okay. I trust you."

Buffy looked out into the street to see Angel walking towards their house. "Speaking of trust issues."

Buffy led Tara inside to let Dawn and Angel talk out on their porch.

"I wasn't sure what you would think about me after what you said that you saw in your Slayer dream," Angel said.

"I didn't care about any of that. I just hate that you didn't trust me enough to be honest with me."

"I told Dru to take Spike and get out of town. She's still...affectionate towards me at times."

Dawn giggled. "Who wouldn't be?"

"It was really hard for me to stake Darla and looking at Drusilla only further reminds me of my guilt. I want to change and atone for what I did to her."

Dawn gave Angel a soft kiss. "Thanks for being honest with me."

Angel smiled sweetly at Dawn. "So...if you want to know more about me, we could go out on another date?"

"Sure."

Dawn waved goodbye to her sister and went off with Angel to town.

* * *

I hope you like what I wrote today.

BTW: Today is the 12th anniversary of Chosen. Excuse me while I cry over Spuffy again.

Please review!


	7. Chapter 6: Let Other Pens Dwell

I've been way busy with work, but thankfully, I have some time off.

This focuses on the What's My Line two-parter but with major canon changing. Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. Joss does.

* * *

Chapter 6: Let Other Pens Dwell on Guilt and Misery

_It was a dark and stormy night in the sleepy town of Moon Valley, California. The rain was nowhere to be found, but the constant thunder and lightning warned the citizens of the town that the floodgates of Heaven were about to open. Sadly, some vampires were not deterred-too thirsty to let something as silly as rain keep them from finding some unsuspecting prey. Thankfully, two beautiful and brave ladies were out in the cemeteries, keeping watch for the predators before the storm breaks in._

Dawn tapped her pencil against her cheek as she stared down into her composition notebook.

"Dawn, what did you put for number 8?" Xander asked.

The brunette Slayer's eyes stayed focused on her notebook.

"Yoo-hoo! Earth to Dawn!" Xander snapped his fingers in front of Dawn's face.

"Oh! Sorry!" Dawn blinked for a few seconds and closed her notebook. "Number 8 for what?"

Xander held up a piece of paper filled with questions and little bubbles. "The stupid career test we have to take."

"Oh yeah!" Dawn said. "I finished that earlier today in homeroom. I'm just working on...a side project right now." She quickly hid her notebook inside her backpack and took a look at Xander's test sheet.

"Lucky you," Buffy said. "I would've opted out entirely, but given that this test Principal Snyder's "hoop" of the week and he won't be happy unless I'm jumping…" The blonde slayer blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes.

"You're not even a teensy weensy bit curious about what kind of career you could have had?" Willow asked. "I mean, if you weren't already the Slayer and all."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "As far as I'm concerned, my future, as well as Dawn's, has been already set in stone the minute that the raggedy man showed up at Hemery High."

"Poor Merrick," Dawn said. Then she gasped, took out her notebook again, and started writing.

"What's with Dawn today?" Xander asked.

"She's been like this since last week," Buffy said. "She was reading Jane Austen's _Northanger Abbey_ and then all of a sudden, she grabbed one of the notebooks from last year's school supply shopping spree and wrote like the wind."

Dawn pouted. "I'm right here, you know!"

"I-I-I think it's great that you're writing, Dawnie," Tara said. "I-is it like a journal or something?"

Dawn put down her notebook. "It's actually more like a novel. I kind of thought that I could write about, well, us. The slaying, the vampires, the demons. Names will be changes, obviously, but it's basically about what happened to us."

Buffy smiled. "That's actually really cool, Dawnie. Can I see?"

Dawn shook her head. "I will tell you the names of all the characters, though." She pointed to Buffy. "Your character's name is Sarah and mine is Michelle and we're still twins, but with extra superpowers and weapons. You get to use a really cool scythe and I know how to levitate."

Buffy smiled. "Nice!"

"What about me?" Xander asked.

"Your character's name is Alex and you are basically like Batman, with lots of cool gadgets."

"Sweet!"

Tara gave Dawn an eager and curious smile. Dawn smiled back at the blonde witch and said, "You are descended from a long line of healers. You supply all the defensive magic and heal the group."

Tara blushed.

"Do I get to do magic too?" Willow asked.

"Yep! Your magic is more offensive, with fireballs and stuff like that."

"Ooh! I love it!"

Principal Snyder passed by the group and gave them all a glare.

"You five are being entirely too loud to be taking your career tests," he snarled.

Dawn handed her career test over to him. "I forgot to give you my sheet, Principal Snyder. I finished it in Homeroom." She looked up at him with wide eyes and pouted. "I'm sorry that I forgot to give it to you."

Snyder blushed and took the test sheet from Dawn. "Thank you, Miss Summers. I hope that your sister will finish hers in a timely manner as well."

The short principal then caught sight of Larry and his boys causing trouble in another hallway and ran to stop them.

After he left, Dawn giggled and said, "Did I mention that in my book, I made Snyder a troll?"

The group broke out into quiet giggles and continued on with their test.

###

Drusilla shuffled the deck of cards, drew ten from the deck, and placed them on the table in front of her. She hummed as she turned the first card over.

"The moon shines its lovely light," Drusilla said to no one in particular. She turned the next card over, revealing a picture of a bright sun. "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and the Slayer is the sun. She will kill the envious moon, who is already pale and sick with grief."

She shook a little as she remembered the way that Spike looked at the blonde slayer. She turned over the next card.

"The King of Cups expects a picnic and his birthday is coming soon," Drusilla whispered. An image of Spike flashed in her mind as she turned over the next card. The card revealed an upside-down picture of a sword held by a hand.

"The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head. No...not my head. But someone is about to cut the thread."

The fifth card showed a picture of a star. "The stars are singing to me. My strength will return." Drusilla clapped with glee as she turned over the next card, which showed a picture of four wands placed as supports for an arch with a couple standing beneath the canopy. "Love will conquer all."

She turned over the next card which showed a stained glass window of three coins with pentacles at the center. "I need the three. The power of three shall set me free." She turned over the next card and grimaced at the picture of a woman on a throne of sunflowers, holding a wand in her hand. "But the queen of the sun! She's always in my way!" The next card showed a picture of a woman on a silver throne holding a gold chalice in her hand. "Her sister is equally dangerous. They will both take my knight away from me!"

Drusilla took a deep breath and turned over the last card. A knight in black armor carried a black flag over a ground littered with skeletons.

"Death will come. But for whom?"

Drusilla summoned her minion to her. "Call upon the Order of Turaka. Tell them to kill the Slayers and their friends, but bring my Angel to me."

"As you wish, my lady!" the minion said.

Drusilla smiled and danced around the room to music that only she could hear.

###

Spike didn't know why he found himself walking towards the home of the Slayer Twins. He'd been walking by their house a lot ever since he and Dru escaped from the bomb shelter. He was waiting for the right time for Buffy and Dawn to tell him how to cure Drusilla. Unfortunately, every time he passed by the house or through a cemetery, he would always sense the Wanker's presence. He passed in front of the house and smelled the hair gel that practically screamed "Wanker" and continued walking. _Guess I'll go get something for Drusilla to eat_, Spike sad.

Dawn giggled in surprise as she walked in her room and found Angel hugging a rag doll close to him.

"Just dropping by for some quality time with Little Miss Muffet?" Dawn asked.

"Who?"

"My doll." She gestured to the doll Angel cradled in his arms. "Buffy has Mr. Gordo, I have Little Miss Muffet."

"Oh." Angel smiled sheepishly as he carefully placed the doll on a side table. "I just came to...check up on you."

"It's good to see you, outside of the whole bearer of bad news thing."

They sat down on the bed together.

"So, um, how are things?"

"We have this thing going on at school."

"Career Week, right?"

"How did you know?"

"I lurk. You seem really excited about it."

"I kind of am. Buffy's Little Miss Cranky as usual, but that's just because we both have the whole sealed fate thing going on. I can't help but feel curious and hopeful, though."

"So what kind of career do you want?" Angel asked.

Dawn showed Angel her notebook. "I want to be a writer. I've been seriously inspired by, well, everything, and started writing about what I've been through."

Angel flipped through the pages of her notebook. "You're serious about this?"

"Yeah, I am," Dawn said.

"What do you think you'll get on your career test?" Angel asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Probably something boring like a librarian, no offense to Giles there. Or worse, maybe a career in museums like what my mom does."

"I can see you being a paralegal myself."

Dawn laughed. "Yeah right! I'd rather die than work for a bunch of lawyers! They're more demonic than the stuff I fight on a daily basis." She took a look at Angel, whose face was as serious as a statue's. "You're serious."

Angel grimaced. "It's just that a career in arts? You're not gonna make a lot of money out of it."

"But you're artistic, Angel. I've seen your sketches."

"They're just a hobby, Dawn. You don't exactly see me selling my drawings do you?"

"No."

"It's just a suggestion, though."

"Yeah, I know."

Angel looked over to Dawn's drawers. A picture of her skating on an ice rink caught his attention. He got up and took a closer look at the picture.

"You ice skated?"

Dawn nodded. "My Dorothy Hamill phase. My room in L.A. was this major shrine - Dorothy posters, Dorothy dolls. I even got the Dorothy haircut. My friends in LA used to call me Ice Princess."

"You wanted to be like her?"

"I wanted to _be_ her. Skating and gymnastics used to be my escape. When my parents were fighting."

"When was the last time you put on skates?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Probably a couple hundred demons ago. Why?"

"I was thinking. There's a skating rink that's closed on Tuesdays."

Realization filled Dawn's eyes. "Tomorrow is Tuesday."

"What do you say we go there after school?"

Dawn smiled. "Okay. I just need to tell Buffy first."

Angel returned her smile as he walked towards the window. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." He jumped out of the window and walked out into the night.

Dawn rushed over to the other side of the hall, where Buffy was looking over her homework.

"Hey, sis," Buffy said. "What's up?"

Dawn smiled. "Angel and I are gonna be going out on a date tomorrow."

"Lucky you. It's just too bad tomorrow is Tuesdays. I don't know why, but I always hate Tuesdays. Nothing good ever happens. Maybe Tuesdays just hate me."

"Speaking of things that hate you, have you decided when you're gonna talk to Spike?" Dawn asked.

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, I figured I'll go to the Bronze after this whole Career Week is over."

"And Drusilla?"

"I've been talking with Miss Calendar. The cure requires Drusilla getting Angel's blood. But we're also looking into other spells that can teleport her far from us. Willow and Tara are practicing the teleporting spells right now."

"Lucky them. I always wished we could do magic. I mean, I want to do something other than getting dreams and sensing vampires."

"Well, you gained a bit of extra strength from that Moon Sailor, right?"

"Sailor Moon, yeah. And I think she uses some kind of moon magic as well."

"Maybe in between all the career day stuff, I can help train you with your strength and Jenny can figure out how you can use the moon as a magic source."

"Thanks, Buffy."

###

The next day, the results from the career aptitude test were posted. Students gathered around the bulletin boards. Cordelia smiled as she saw personal shopper, motivational speaker, and lawyer on her results.

"So what did you get?" Buffy asked.

"Construction, Carpentry, or Architecture," Xander read. "Well, I do like working with my hands."

"Let me see!" Dawn said. "Huh. I got Museum Curator, Historian, Librarian…Dammit! I wanted something cool!"

"Creative careers aren't usually on these things, Dawnie," Buffy said. "What did you get, Tara?"

Tara smiled. "Nurse. I also got Medical Assistant and Teacher."

Willow looked on the list and read her results out loud: "Science Technician, Network and Computer System Administrator, Computer and Information Research Scientist! It's perfect!"

"I'm glad someone got the careers they wanted!" Dawn lamented.

"I wonder if I could be like Miss Calendar," Willow said. "Combining magic and computers."

"That would be seriously cool," Dawn said. "What about you, Buffy?"

"It seems we both got stuck with some lame-ass jobs. I got Athletic Trainer, Guidance Counselor, and Law Enforcement Professional!"

"As in police?" Willow asked.

"As in polyester, doughnuts, and brutality," Xander said.

"They don't sound all that bad to me," Dawn said. "At least you get to do stuff."

"Is something wrong?" Buffy asked.

"Angel wasn't so keen on the whole writing thing."

"Well that's kind of sucky," Xander said. "And I'm not just saying that because he's a vampire."

Dawn giggled.

"Maybe you can find a way to deal with it through writing things out," Buffy said. "Make an enemy that represents what you're going through with Angel. Then have Sarah and Michelle figure out a way to deal with that problem."

Inspiration instantly lit up in Dawn's eyes. "I got the perfect idea!" She giggled and ran off to her next class.

###

_Katja flashed an evil grin, her fangs shining in the moonlight. She folded her arms, showing off the high quality of her three-piece suit and gave Sarah and Michelle a challenging look._

"_So what's it gonna be, Slayers? Are you going to let your little friends die or are you gonna hand yourselves over?"_

_Michelle looked over at Alex and Liam, who were tied and gagged onto one pole and at Lily and Amber, who were tied up at another pole._

"_We're gonna have to get creative here, sis," Michelle said._

"_Right. You levitate and knock her out," Sarah said. "I'll slice our friends free."_

"Hey, Dawnie," Angel said.

Dawn quickly put her notebook in her backpack. "Hey, Angel."

"You ready for some ice skating?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah."

Angel tied the laces on his skates and led Dawn out into the ice. The two of them glided like a pair of professionals.

"You're really good at this."

"I used to watch ballet," Angel said. "Not that much different, really. Even when I was evil, I loved watching people dance."

Dawn blushed with a modest smile on her face.

All of a sudden, a red-skinned demon wearing a black suit charged on the ice. Angel quickly punched the demon in the face and knocked him down, then threw the demon around every time it fought back. Dawn took off her blades and tied the skates together. She held herself up against the wall and threw the skates at the demon's head, knocking him out.

Dawn slid on the ice as best as she could and held onto Angel to prevent herself from falling.

"What was that thing?" Dawn asked.

"It was just a m'fashnik demon," Angel said. "Not much of a threat." He took a close look at the demon's hands and noticed a ring with an intricate engraving.

"What's with the ring?" Dawn asked.

"Go to Giles. I'll take care of him, okay?"

"But Angel!"

Angel grabbed the ring off of the demon and threw it to Dawn.

"Just go!"

Dawn whined and ran out of the rink.

###

The Scooby Gang were surprised to see Dawn as she ran inside the library.

"What happened to your date with Angel?" Willow asked.

"A demon attacked us," Dawn said. "And it was wearing a ring-the kind you'd usually see on Super Bowl champions."

"Do you know what it looked like?" Giles asked.

Dawn took the ring out of the pocket. "Yeah."

Giles looked through the books and pulled out a volume entitled _Rings_. After flipping through a few pages, he found a picture that matched the ring that Dawn had.

"This guy was hard core, Giles. And Angel was power-freaked by the ring."

"I'm afraid he was not overreacting," Giles said. "The ring is worn only by members of the Order Of Turaka. They are a society of demon assassins dating back to King Solomon…"

"So I guess now would be a good time to get into training then," Buffy said.

"But these assassins won't stop until they got what they came for," Giles said. "And more will come unless the contract is cancelled

"Then we just have to take them down," Dawn said. She turned to Jenny and said, "Buffy told me that you can help me with some kind of moon magic?"

Jenny nodded. "Yeah. But it's a little dangerous. The moon is connected to emotions and especially to women. So relying on the moon to give you strength will vary. But there's a magic that can be used to replicate the powers you had. I have a friend from Japan who's more familiar with the character you turned into."

"Awesome!"

###

_Willy's Pub_

The weasel-like bartender hummed to himself and looked up as a shadow loomed over him.

"Oh. Hey, Angel," Willy said. "I didn't recognize you in the dark there."

Angel glared at Willy.

"What - what can I do for you tonight?" the bartender asked.

"I need some information," Angel said.

"Yeah? Man, that's too bad. Cause I'm staying away from that whole scene. I'm living right, Angel."

"Sure you are, Willy. And I'm taking up sunbathing."

"Come on, now. Don't be that way. I treat you vamps good. I don't hassle you. You don't hassle me. We all enjoy the patronage of this establishment. Everybody's happy."

Angel leaned in close and slammed his fists onto the bar. Willy flinched.

"Who sent them?" Angel shouted.

"Who sent - who?"

Angel gripped his hand around Willy's neck and threw him up against the wall.

"The Order of Taraka," Angel said with his teeth gritted. "They're after the Slayers"

"Come on, man!" Willy squealed. "You know he ordered those guys. Spike's sick of your girls getting in his way."

"Where can I find him?"

Willy choked and passed out.

All of a sudden, Angel felt the burning sensation of Holy Water on his skin. He turned around as one of the members of the Order attacked him. It was a Polgara demon. He struggled against him, but the Polgara demon brought out a skewer from his arm and stabbed Angel right in the gut. The dark-haired vampire felt a few more splashes of Holy Water hitting him. Finally, he felt some ropes being tied around his hand and a long claw under his chin.

Drusilla smiled as she lifted Angel's face up so that his eyes met hers. She waved her fingers in front of him.

"Be in my eyes," she droned hypnotically. "Be...in me."

The last thing Angel saw before he slumped over was Dawn standing over him, dressed in a long white dress.

###

"I think we need to split up," Buffy said. "Willow, Tara, check on my mom. I'm gonna patrol. Dawn, stay with Miss Calendar."

"Where are you gonna go?" Dawn asked.

"Well, who do you think would send those guys after us?"

Dawn pouted. "Be careful, okay?"

Buffy nodded.

###

_Restfield Cemetery_

Buffy felt a cold breeze blowing as the sun set. She found Spike leaning against a crypt, smoking a cigarette like always.

"The sun sets and she appears," Spike said. "What do you want, Slayer?"

"Call off the Order," Buffy said.

"What?"

"The Order of Tamagochi or something? A demon attacked my sister and Angel."

"Sounds like a typical Tuesday here in Sunnyhell."

"Yeah, well they're not gonna stop until you tell them to. I can help you with Drusilla but I can't exactly do that with demons trying to kill me."

"You do realize that _I_ still want to kill you."

"Well the feeling is mutual. But seriously? You don't know anything about the Order and the assassins?"

"I haven't seen or heard from the Order of _Turaka _in a long time. Not since-"

Realization filled both of their eyes. Buffy ran off back to the library while Spike went back to the factory.

###

_The Factory_

Spike hurried inside and found Drusilla coming out of her bedroom. She smelled of hair gel and Holy Water.

"You put a commission to the Order of Turaka," Spike said. "And now you have Peaches here?"

"He thinks I'm the moon," Drusilla cooed. "My Angel will give me strength."

"Drusilla, I am getting help. We can cure you and get out of this hellhole. I'm tired of being here."

"The Slayers are holding you back."

"No, they're not!"

"You're lying!" Drusilla slapped Spike and pushed him down to the floor. "You were the Slayer of Slayers. And now...you don't want to kill them. I see both of them, floating all around you. Laughing."

"They want to help you," Spike said.

"With the help of an evil teacher. Who wants to take my Angel away from me."

"Angel? Angel?! Don't tell me that after almost a century away, you're still pining for your Daddy?!"

"I need him!" Drusilla cried.

Spike's jaw dropped. He turned around and paced for a bit before turning back at her. "Who was the one that saved you from that mob at Prague? Who's been there for you since China, in Spain, in Italy, in Woodstock?"

"But that was all the past, Spike. I look into your future. And all I see are the Slayers."

Tears welled up in Drusilla's eyes as she turned and walked away. "I will see to my Angel now. I'll cure myself on my own. You taste like ashes to me, Spike. You're beneath me. Now leave me!"

Spike started hyperventilating. Tears welled up in his eyes and he left the factory.

###

Buffy returned to the library. She did a quick head count and noticed two people missing.

"Where are Willow and Tara?" Buffy asked.

She gasped in surprise as Willow and Tara appeared in front of her.

"What the?" Buffy, Dawn, and Xander said simultaneously.

"There was a demon that followed us!" Willow said.

"We cast a spell-" Tara said. "We teleported out, but it's probably not far."

"Drusilla made the order," Buffy said. "What do you think she has planned?"

"If I were Drusilla," Jenny said, "I would probably seek out my sire. It's known that Sire's blood has healing powers for the vampires they turn."

"Oh no!" Dawn said. "Angel!"

Giles looked through the volume involving Drusilla. "There is a ritual here. She must've foreseen it."

"So where are they now?" Dawn asked.

Tara grabbed a scrying crystal from her pocket and hummed over a map of Sunnydale. The crystal landed on top of an icon of a church.

###

The Scooby Gang rushed to the abandoned church indicated on Tara's map. Spike was right at the front door and pounced on Buffy right away.

"I'll take care of Spike!" Buffy said. "You guys get Angel!"

Giles nodded and led the rest of the team further into the church.

Buffy and Spike traded blows, pushing and punching, kicking and throwing each other around the narrow hallway. All of a sudden, a green-skinned demon with a twisted face broke through the wall and grabbed Buffy by the neck.

"Spike!" Buffy choked. "Get this thing off me!"

"You're the one who drove Drusilla away from me! Why should I help you?"

Buffy used all her strength to break free from the demon's release. Then she threw the demon down to the end of the hallway.

"I'm sorry, I'm not exactly Dr. Ruth here, but right now, we have a Grappler demon to deal with. So would you rather let the green menace here kill me or you?"

Spike huffed. "Fine."

The two of them turned their attention to the demon, with Buffy breaking one of its arms while Spike twisted its leg around breaking it. Then he held the demon down while Buffy snapped its neck.

All of a sudden, they heard Dawn screaming.

The two of them ran inside the presbytery and saw Dawn surrounded by a shield created by Willow and Tara while Xander, Giles, and Miss Calendar fought off the Polgara demon and a couple of Drusilla's minions. Angel was tied up to a pole, slowly regaining consciousness.

As the dark-haired vampire woke up, he took a look at his surroundings. He was inside of an abandoned church. He felt the ropes around his hands. _Dru must be setting up for the ritual_, he thought.

Angel had to think fast. He saw all the candles around the church. Using his arms to break free of his restraints, he knocked the candles down onto the floor. One of the candles set a curtain on fire while the rest spilled onto the floor. He got up and pushed Spike towards the fire, but Drusilla held him back.

"You are not going to kill him!" Drusilla cried. She went into game face and bit down on Angel's neck hard. Angel groaned as he felt his strength leaving him.

"ANGEL!" Dawn cried.

"Dawn, we gotta get outta here!" Buffy said.

Dawn looked to her sister and then to Angel. "I'll come back for you!"

The two slayers ran outside.

"We gotta get Angel out!" Dawn said. "Drusilla's taking him away."

Buffy turned to Tara. "Can you cast some kind of spell to take out the fire?"

Tara nodded. She turned to Miss Calendar and Willow. The three witches chanted as a raincloud opened over the abandoned church, pouring rain onto the fire.

Buffy ran back inside and found Spike slumped up against the organ as it was about to collapse on him. He was badly burned, but he was otherwise okay.

Dawn looked around the church for Angel. She ran to a back entrance and found an open sewer grate.

"He's gone!" Dawn cried. "Angel is gone!"

"But Spike's still here," Buffy said.

"You think he can be helpful?" Dawn asked. "How can he help us?"

"Spike is the only one who knows where they're hiding and how we can get to them. He can either face our stakes, leave town, or help us, but I promise you, Dawn, we will find Angel."

Dawn nodded.

Buffy carried Spike over her shoulder and led him out.

###

When Spike opened his eyes, he found himself inside a crypt. The pain from the fire still lingered throughout his body. He slowly sat up and reached into his pockets for his cigarettes and lighter only to find a note from Buffy.

"By now, your girlfriend has probably cured herself using Angel's blood. We took you to a crypt in Restfield Cemetery, close to our house. As much as we hate to say this, your girlfriend has become our common enemy. She left you to die in the church and she has Angel. If you wanna get back at her and get Angel out of your life, work with us or leave town. Try and kill us and I won't hesitate to let Dawn kill you."

###

Meanwhile, Buffy and Dawn were starting another day of school.

"I'm sorry," Dawn said. "I should've listened to you."

"Hey, it's my fault for letting Drusilla get away with Angel," Buffy said.

"We didn't have much of a choice. I just wonder if Spike will be willing to help us."

"I'm just glad that this whole Career Week is going to be over soon!" they heard Cordelia whine to her fellow Cordettes.

"I almost forgot about that," Dawn said. "We'll be going to workshops this week."

"How was the writing?" Buffy asked.

Dawn took the notebook that she had tucked under her arm. "Read for yourself."

_Sarah and Michelle watched as the fire reduced the abandoned mansion into a pile of rubble. They heard Katja scream before she turned into dust. Michelle held Liam close to her and kissed him on the forehead. _

_And so once again, the day was saved._

"After everything that's happened, I still feel like I want to keep writing," Dawn said. "And you were a really big help with that. Maybe you should be a counselor.

"It'll take a lot of studying to be qualified," Xander said, appearing behind them.

"Like I don't do enough research!" Buffy said.

"The first workshop starts in a few minutes," Dawn said. "Let's go!"

As Buffy, Dawn, and Xander went inside the classroom, Tara turned to Willow and said, "So when do you wanna tell them?"

Willow raised an eyebrow. "About what else happened in Buffy's basement?"

"We kind of kissed, you know."

"I know. But with Angel being captured and Drusilla being the new Big Bad...maybe we can wait until later. I just sort of like having something that's just, you know, mine. I mean,

do you get what I mean?"

"I do," Tara said. "I am, you know."

"What?"

"Yours."

The two of them gave each other a knowing look and held each other's hands as they walked inside the classroom.

* * *

Please like and review and tell me what you think of the changes. What do you think will happen next?


End file.
